Trump administration declines judge’s request to return college student who was deported over Thanksgiving break
A federal prosecutor in Massachusetts said Friday that the federal government will not return a 19-year-old college student who was deported over Thanksgiving despite a court order blocking her removal.
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was deported to Honduras in November shortly after she was detained, even though a federal judge had ordered the government not to remove her from the U.S. or transfer her out of Massachusetts.
After the college student's removal, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said he was giving the government an opportunity to "rectify the mistake" and recommended that she be issued a student visa.
But on Friday, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley argued in a court filing that the Secretary of State lacks the legal authority to unilaterally issue visas. Foley said that if Lopez Belloza were returned to the U.S., she would remain subject to immediate detention and removal based on a final deportation order.
"ICE has considered returning Petitioner to the United States to the status quo that existed immediately prior to her removal, but respectfully declines to pursue this course of action," Foley said.
Lopez Belloza previously told ABC News that she believes her deportation is unfair because she has no criminal record and was "just focusing on her studies."
"My parents... work so hard to be able to send me to college," she said. "And I got really good financial aid. I really got a good college that basically wanted me, and I wanted them. My dream was for me to be in college, fulfill not only mine but also my family dream... for me to be in college, be one of the first ones in my family to be there. It was like... wow... I'm doing this. It's happening."
