A federal judge in Boston has thrown out the legal case of a college student who was improperly sent back to Honduras, citing the “sad truth” that her refusal to take a government-provided return flight eliminated the court’s authority to continue hearing her lawsuit.
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, age 20 and a first-year student at Babson College in Massachusetts, chose not to get on a February 27 flight that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had organized to bring her back to America. Her decision came after the Trump administration warned it would attempt another deportation if she returned.
Lopez Belloza arrived in the United States from Honduras at age 8 and has stated she had no knowledge of a final removal order that was issued against her when she was just 11 years old.
Her legal team had asked Boston-based U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns to allow Lopez Belloza to pursue the lawsuit she initiated after immigration officials detained her at Logan International Airport in Boston last November. She had been traveling to Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving with family members.
However, Stearns confirmed his previous determination that he lacked authority to consider her detention case because she had already been transported to Texas by immigration officials when the lawsuit was filed on November 21.
The judge’s only remaining legal basis for involvement would have been enforcing an order from another judge that was issued just minutes after Lopez Belloza’s case began. That order prohibited her deportation or removal from Massachusetts for 72 hours. Despite this court directive, immigration authorities flew her from Texas to Honduras the following day.
A government attorney later expressed regret to Stearns for an “error” committed by an ICE officer who failed to properly notify other agency personnel about the court order’s existence.
On February 13, Stearns directed the administration to correct this mistake by helping Lopez Belloza return to the United States. The administration responded last week by offering to have her take the ICE flight from Honduras to Texas.
But officials also indicated that ICE intended to pursue another deportation attempt once she arrived and maintained the right to hold her in custody. Lopez Belloza described the situation as a “nightmare” and decided to stay in Honduras rather than board the aircraft.
“The sad truth is that when Any declined the flight she also waived this court’s only remaining basis for jurisdiction,” Stearns stated in his ruling.
The judge noted that if she had taken the flight, the court order preventing her immediate deportation would still be active, providing her with “ample opportunity” to file a new legal challenge in Texas regarding her detention.
Todd Pomerleau, who represents Lopez Belloza, announced plans to file an appeal.
