Massachusetts college student fearful she will be deported again will remain in Honduras
A Babson College student will not be coming back to Massachusetts. The illegally deported freshman will remain in Honduras despite a judge ordering the government to return Any Lopez Belloza back home by February 27. She was supposed to be on a flight at 1 p.m. Friday, but her lawyers said it's all a sham to simply deport her again.
"Yesterday was a roller coaster of emotion," said Lopez Belloza. "For the first time in a long time, I felt really hope. Hours later that excitement turned into a nightmare."
The 19-year-old was detained at Logan Airport while trying to head home to Texas for Thanksgiving. The Department of Homeland Security says she entered the U.S. illegally as a child in 2014, and a year later the federal government said she had to leave. Her lawyer says her family thought the case had been dismissed.
"She had no idea that her case did not resolve itself favorably because guess what? She was 11 years old at the time," her lawyer Todd Pomerleau said.
A court order by a federal judge states the government "admits that it did wrong."
Pomerleau said ICE missed a court order attached to an email. The order said she couldn't be deported while her immigration case was pending. The judge gave the government two weeks to get her back.
"They have a filing that says they are giving the judge 72 hours' notice starting yesterday, that they plan on deporting her from the country. That would expire on Sunday," said Pomerleau. "It was giving us notice that it planned on deporting her again, and we would be free to file a lawsuit in Texas, where in all likelihood they land plane, hide her from us again, not let her make a phone call, and treat this like a turnstile and send her back to Honduras."
Pomerleau said his office was given vague details about the flights' intended location or what type of airline she would be on. It leaves her future in limbo as they fight her case further.
"I want to continue my education. I want to build my career. I want to support my family. I want to keep contributing to the country I call home," said Lopez Belloza.