BOSTON — The U.S. government apologized in federal court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained while trying to fly home for Thanksgiving, and acknowledged it violated a judge’s order, according to statements at a hearing Tuesday.
In the case of Lucia Lopez Belloza, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter told U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns that government lawyers wanted to “sincerely apologize,” saying the ICE employee understood “he made a mistake.” Sauter said the employee viewed the violation as “an inadvertent mistake by one individual, not a willful act of violating a court order.”
Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at Boston’s airport on Nov. 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. Her removal came despite an emergency court order on Nov. 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours, the court was told.
After the deportation, the government argued the court lacks jurisdiction, contending Lopez Belloza’s lawyers filed their action several hours after she arrived in Texas while being transported out of the country. Government lawyers also acknowledged, however, that the judge’s order was violated.
The government said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because Lopez Belloza had already left Massachusetts. Government lawyers said the officer failed to activate a system that would alert other ICE officers that a case was subject to judicial review and that removal should be halted.
In a declaration filed Jan. 2, the officer admitted he did not notify ICE’s enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, that the removal mission needed to be canceled. The officer said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once Lopez Belloza was no longer in the state.
The government said the deportation was still lawful because an immigration judge ordered the removal of Lopez Belloza and her mother in 2016 and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal in 2017. Government lawyers told the court Lopez Belloza could have pursued additional appeals or sought a stay of removal.
Lopez Belloza’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said the deportation violated the Nov. 21 order and deprived her of due process. He said, “I was hoping the government would show some leniency and bring her back,” and added, “They violated a court order.”
Stearns said he appreciated the government’s acknowledgment and called it “tragic” bureaucratic error. He appeared to rule out holding the government in contempt because the violation did not appear intentional, and he questioned whether he had jurisdiction, appearing to agree with the government that the Nov. 21 order was filed several hours after Lopez Belloza had been sent to Texas. Stearns also said Lopez Belloza could explore applying for a student visa.
Pomerleau said one possible resolution would be allowing Lopez Belloza to return to finish her studies while he works to reopen the underlying removal order.
The case was described as the latest in a series involving deportations carried out despite court directives. The government pointed to prior matters including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador after a ruling that should have prevented it, and the return to the U.S. of a Guatemalan man identified as O.C.G. after a judge found his removal from Mexico likely “lacked any semblance of due process.”