Zapata’s deportation to Congo triggered a fast court intervention after a federal judge concluded the U.S. government sent her to a destination that had declined to accept her because of her medical needs. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ordered the Trump administration to bring the Colombian woman back to the United States and required the government to report its progress on a tight schedule.
Leon ruled Wednesday that Zapata’s deportation was “likely illegal,” according to the court order. The judge said Zapata was sent to a country that refused to accept her because it could not provide sufficient medical care, and that as a result she faced a daily risk of medical complications, “up to and including death.” Leon’s order set deadlines for the government to update the court by 5 p.m. Friday and again every 72 hours after that.
Court filings and documents submitted by Zapata’s lawyer described what she experienced after being sent to Congo. The filings said that while Zapata was in detention, black spots began to grow on her back and foot, her skin started to peel, and her nails turned black. The materials also described her medical conditions and mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety and insomnia.
Zapata entered the United States from Mexico in August 2024 and was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. A judge ruled last year that she could not be deported to Colombia because she could be tortured if returned, after she described abuse by her former partner in court documents, including beatings, stabbing, rape and threats. Leon’s ruling focused on what happened next: rather than returning Zapata to Colombia, the government sought to deport her to other countries.
The government requested to send Zapata to multiple other countries that, according to court records, all refused to accept her. The court records said the Congolese government notified ICE in writing on April 14 that it also could not take Zapata because it could not care for her medical needs, and that she was still sent there within days. Rep. Rob Menendez, a Democrat of New Jersey who has been working with Zapata and her family for more than a year, said she was among at least 15 people sent to Congo.
After the deportation, Zapata has lived in a hotel in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, her lawyer Lauren O’Neal said. O’Neal said the hotel gates are locked and that Zapata and other deportees are rarely allowed out except with supervision. O’Neal also said Zapata was close to agreeing to return to Colombia, describing the possibility of being tortured there as more bearable because, as she put it, “at least dying there would involve some time where she didn’t feel so much physical pain.”
The case has also been folded into broader congressional criticism of how deportation decisions are made. Menendez compared Zapata’s situation to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he should be returned. Menendez said the Zapata case and others represent “small reflections” of what he said is happening more broadly, describing the situation as involving “zero concern for due process” and “trampling all over our legal system.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. Menendez said the court order provides “at least some level of justice” but said the administration still must comply and bring Zapata back, warning that other cases may be playing out quietly behind detention walls and on deportation flights that the public has not learned about.
Zapata’s situation also highlights how U.S. protections tied to torture allegations and other legal safeguards can collide with deportation practices involving third countries. The report said that Zapata was protected from deportation to Colombia based on international agreements on torture, while other deportations after asylum cancellations have involved thousands of asylum-seekers ordered removed; advocacy groups said more than 15,000 such orders have been issued, with only a small portion carried out. The U.S. has signed agreements with multiple countries, including Ecuador, Honduras, Uganda, Cameroon and Congo, although few details are known publicly about which terms govern the acceptance of deportees.