Federal Court Hearing on the Deportation of Babson College Student

Fri Jan 16 2026 22:38:08 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A federal judge in Boston addresses the case of Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old college student mistakenly deported to Honduras. Her lawyer calls for a plan to return her to the U.S. after the government admitted it violated a court order.

Lucia Lopez Belloza, a freshman at Babson College, was deported to Honduras just before Thanksgiving despite an emergency court order that should have allowed her to remain in the U.S. Her lawyer is demanding the government develop a plan to return her as they acknowledge a failure to comply with the judge's order. During a recent court hearing, the judge showed concern for the error but raised jurisdictional questions regarding the timing of the filing.

BOSTON (FluxDaily) — In a poignant turn of events, federal judge Richard Stearns held a hearing to address the deportation of Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman mistakenly sent back to Honduras just prior to Thanksgiving. Reports indicate that government lawyers admitted a court order was violated in the process, sparking further legal action from Lopez Belloza's representation.

Lopez Belloza, who was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20 while attempting to travel to Texas to surprise her family for the holidays, was deported two days later despite a court order that mandated her stay in the U.S. for a minimum of 72 hours. Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, filed a petition requesting that the government present a plan to facilitate her return within a stipulated timeframe of 14 days.

During the hearing, Pomerleau emphasized that the petition is not an attempt to micromanage foreign policy but rather a call for a transparent process to pursue options that would allow Lopez Belloza to regain her status in the U.S., including potentially utilizing a pending T visa due to previous circumstances of human trafficking.

In light of the situation, the judge seemed to sympathize with the government's acknowledgment of the mistake while also questioning the jurisdiction over the case due to the timing of Lopez Belloza's legal action being filed after her deportation to Texas.

Currently residing with her grandparents and studying remotely, Lopez Belloza is not detained, having recently visited family in El Salvador. As her family immigrated from Honduras in 2014, this case adds to the growing number of deportation incidents occurring even in the face of existing legal protections.

This case follows previous rulings where deportations took place despite court orders, raising larger concerns about due process in immigration matters. As the legal landscape unfolds, Lopez Belloza and her family await clarity and the possibility of her return to the United States.