BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration apologized in court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained while trying to fly home to surprise his family for Thanksgiving, but still argued the error did not affect his case.
Annie Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at the Boston airport on November 20 and flew to Honduras two days later. He was removed on November 21 despite an emergency court order directing the government to hold him in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours.
López Beloja, whose family moved to the United States from Honduras in 2014, is currently living with his grandparents and studying remotely. She is not in custody and recently visited an aunt in El Salvador.
His case is the latest case of deportation despite a court order. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite a restraining order. The Trump administration initially tried to bring him back to the U.S. but eventually relented after the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in. And last June, a Guatemalan man known as OCG was returned to the U.S. after his removal from Mexico was allegedly found to have “no semblance of due process.”
At Tuesday’s federal court hearing in Boston, the government argued that the court lacked jurisdiction because Lopez Belloza’s lawyers filed their action just hours after he arrived in Texas on his way out of the country. But the government has also admitted to violating the judge’s order.
In court filings and in open court, prosecutors said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because Lopez Belloza had already left Massachusetts. The officer failed to activate a system that would have alerted other ICE officials that the case was subject to judicial review and should be dismissed.
“On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter told the judge, adding that the employee understood “he made a mistake.” The violation, Souter added, “was an inadvertent mistake by an individual, not an intentional act of violating a court order.”
In a Jan. 2 declaration filed with the court, the ICE official also acknowledged that he did not notify ICE’s enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, that he needed to cancel the removal mission. He said he believes the judge’s order does not apply once Lopez Belloza is no longer in the state.
The government claims her deportation is legal because an immigration judge ordered the removal of Lopez Beloza and her mother in 2016, and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said he could pursue further appeals or seek to block removal.
His lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said he was deported in clear violation of the Nov. 21 order and that the government’s actions have been denied due process. “I hope the government will show some leniency and bring him back,” he said. “They violated the court order.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said he applauded the government’s admission of error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic mistake. However, it was seen that he refused to defy the government saying that the violation was not intentional. He also questioned whether he had jurisdiction over the case, appearing for the government in a court-ordered finding filed hours after he was sent to Texas.
“It may not be anyone’s fault, but she was a victim of it,” Stearns said, adding that at one point Lopez Belloza may seek to apply for a student visa.
Pomerleau said one possible resolution would allow Lopez Beloza to return to complete his studies while he works to reopen the underlying removal order.
