19-year-old college student deported despite judge's order blocking her removal: Lawyer
A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported despite a federal judge's order blocking her removal, according to her attorney.
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, who entered the U.S. from Honduras when she was 8 years old, was about to board her flight to Texas last Friday to visit her parents and siblings when airport authorities told her to step aside, her attorney Todd Pomerleau told ABC News.
Lopez Belloza was detained, informed that she had a removal order and then arrested, her attorney said. Hours after her detainment, court documents obtained by ABC News show that a federal judge ordered the government not to remove the 19-year-old from the U.S. and not to transfer her outside of Massachusetts.
But according to Pomerleau, Lopez Belloza was transferred that evening to Texas and deported to Honduras the next day.
“She thought she was going to go home, see her family, fly back, take her finals, and now she's sitting in Honduras,” Pomerleau said.
In a statement to ABC News' Boston affiliate WCVB, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Lopez Belloza had a removal order since 2015 and confirmed her removal.
ABC News has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for a comment.
Pomerleau said that he will seek Lopez Belloza’s return to the U.S.
