The federal government is contesting a court order aimed at facilitating the return of Any López Belloza, a college student who was wrongfully deported after attempting to board a flight to Austin last November. López Belloza, who was born in Honduras and is currently studying at Babson College in Massachusetts, was arrested and sent back to her home country during a visit intended to see her family for Thanksgiving.
Last month, the Trump administration acknowledged that the deportation of the 19-year-old was a mistake. However, this week, the government argued that the Massachusetts federal court lacks jurisdiction over the matter and indicated that they would deport her again if she were to return to the United States.
This legal maneuver complicates López Belloza’s prospects for returning to her studies in the U.S. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, revealed that federal agents have been contacting her via WhatsApp, offering a flight back to the United States but without assurances that she would not be immediately deported once again to Honduras.
“All they have to do is let her in and leave her alone,” Pomerleau stated. “She has a green card application pending, and yet they want to continue to torment her. They want to fly her back here to engage in a charade to then separate her from her loved ones again.”
Pomerleau criticized this tactic as an attempt to bring his client back to the country only to deport her without providing a fair legal process. Efforts to obtain a comment from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding these allegations have gone unanswered.
López Belloza expressed her frustration over the stagnation of her case, stating, “No one should have to feel this powerless.” She further demanded, “I’m asking for honesty and fairness… to be treated like a human with rights and whose life matters, and to be allowed to keep building the life I have worked so hard for in the United States.”
Having fled Honduras with her family as a child, López Belloza and her mother believed they had been granted asylum after arriving in Texas. However, her troubles began when she was detained after trying to catch her flight in Boston. Pomerleau contended that her deportation breached a judge’s order to keep her in the U.S. while her case was pending.
Recently, attorneys for the federal government referred to her deportation as an error, and two weeks ago, a federal judge in Massachusetts mandated the Trump administration to present a plan for her return by Friday. Yet, in a filing last Thursday, the government’s attorneys declared they would not comply with that order, asserting that the court lacked the authority to address López Belloza’s case.
Congressman Greg Casar from Austin condemned the government’s refusal to adhere to the judge’s ruling as “outrageous.” He emphasized, “We cannot let America become a country where the government can ignore judges’ orders and then refuse to make things right when it makes a mistake. Any must immediately be allowed to fly back to Boston to continue her studies.”
Pomerleau indicated that he would respond to the government’s motion as early as Friday, expressing readiness to pursue the case in Boston or “any courtroom in America.” He remarked, “There’s no excuse for this lack of transparency or lack of accountability. You say you’re sorry, you make it right. You don’t say you’re sorry and continue to torment people.”
