ICE detained and deported Babson College freshman despite no valid removal order; judge ordered her return

On November 20, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, at Boston's Logan Airport as she prepared to fly to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. Lopez Belloza, who has no criminal history, was not permitted to call an attorney or her family, and was deported to Honduras two days later, a country she had not been to since she was eight years old. DHS maintained she had received "full due process," pointing to a final removal order an immigration judge issued in 2015 after her family's asylum claim was denied; her attorney said prior counsel had told her no such order existed, and that DHS ignored simpler ways to correct its own acknowledged error.

The Trump administration later acknowledged the deportation was a mistake: an ICE officer had failed to activate an alert system that would have flagged that Lopez Belloza should not have been removed. Despite that admission, the administration did not act on its own to bring her back. Attorneys for Lopez Belloza filed a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking a lawful process for her return.

Updates

2026-02-13 — Federal judge ordered the government to facilitate her return [1, 2]

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns ordered the government to facilitate Lopez Belloza's return to the United States within 14 days, after the administration argued that returning her would be futile because she "would again be detained and sent to Honduras." Stearns wrote that "it is time for the government to make amends," and noted the government had "readily acknowledged" violating an earlier emergency order staying her removal.

2026-03-06 — Judge dismissed her case a day after her attorneys alleged an ICE "trap" [4, 5]

Judge Stearns dismissed Lopez Belloza's habeas petition, ruling that her attorneys had missed the filing deadline for Massachusetts and that she had waived the court's jurisdiction by declining a government-offered flight back to Texas. The dismissal came a day after her attorneys filed evidence that an ICE agent had messaged Lopez Belloza on WhatsApp on February 26 offering a flight home with assurances she would "most likely" be released on arrival, while the government's own court filings showed it intended to detain and re-deport her within 72 hours of arrival. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, called the offer "a trap." Lopez Belloza's attorneys filed a notice of appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

2026-05-22 — Attorneys appealed dismissal to the First Circuit, seeking reinstatement [6]

Lopez Belloza's attorneys filed an appeal brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit urging reinstatement of her habeas case, arguing for an exception to standard habeas jurisdiction rules when the government fails to disclose a detainee's location. Lopez Belloza remained in Honduras living with her grandparents, continuing to attend Babson College remotely. The government had 30 days to file a reply brief.