College Student Deported to Honduras Despite Emergency Court Order

A 19-year-old Babson College student was detained at Boston Logan International Airport and deported to Honduras despite a federal judge's order temporarily blocking her removal.

The Details: Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, who has lived in Texas since childhood, had passed through airport security on Nov. 20 before she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass. According to The Associated Press, attorney Todd Pomerleau said she was directed to customer service and then taken into custody by immigration officials. She was flown to Texas and then Honduras within two days. Lopez Belloza told The Boston Globe she had planned to surprise her family in Texas for Thanksgiving and share updates from her first semester in college. Pomerleau described the incident as upending her education, saying, "Her college dream has just been shattered."

For Context: Lopez Belloza is originally from Honduras but grew up in Texas. ICE said an immigration judge ordered her deported in 2015. Pomerleau said she was unaware of any removal order and that the only record he found shows her case was closed in 2017. He said she believed her immigration case had been resolved and had flown multiple times without issues. A federal judge issued an emergency order the day after her detention that barred the government from moving her out of Massachusetts or the United States for at least 72 hours.

How The Media Covered It: Media on the left largely reported on Lopez Belloza's deportation to Honduras, while few outlets on the right covered it. The Associated Press (Lean Left bias) focused on her lawyer's arguments, who described the incident as a mistake by immigration officials that harmed a college student. AP reported that Lopez Belloza was "absolutely heartbroken" after being detained at the airport. Though The Daily Mail (Right) highlighted many of the same details, it added political context by noting deportation numbers under the Trump administration and describing broader immigration enforcement trends.

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.