BOSTON — The Trump administration has apologized in court for an “error” in deporting a Massachusetts college student who was detained while trying to return home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, but still says the error should not affect her case.
A. Lucia Lopez Peloza, a 19-year-old Babson College student, was detained at the Boston airport on November 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. Her deportation came despite a November 21 emergency court order ordering the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours.
López Peloza, whose family immigrated from Honduras to the United States in 2014, is currently staying with his grandparents and studying remotely. She is not in detention and was recently visiting her aunt in El Salvador.
Her case is the latest involving a deportation that was carried out despite a court order. Kelmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite a ruling that should have prevented it. The Trump administration initially made efforts to return him to the United States, but eventually complied after the US Supreme Court took up the matter. Last June, a Guatemalan man identified as OCG was returned to the United States after a judge found that his deportation from Mexico “likely lacked any semblance of due process.”
At a federal court hearing Tuesday in Boston, the government argued that the court lacked jurisdiction because Lopez-Pelosa’s lawyers filed their lawsuit several hours after she arrived in Texas while she was en route out of the country. But the government also admitted that it violated the judge’s order.
In court filings and in open court, government lawyers said an ICE deportation officer mistakenly believed the order was no longer valid because Lopez-Peloza had already left Massachusetts. The officer failed to activate a system that alerted other ICE officers that the case was subject to judicial review and that deportation should be halted.
“On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sutter told the judge, adding that the employee understands “he made a mistake.” Sutter added that the violation was “an unintentional error by a single individual, and not an intentional act to violate a court order.”
In a declaration filed with the court on January 2, the ICE officer also admitted that he did not notify ICE’s law enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, that the removal mission had to be cancelled. He said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once Lopez-Peloza left the state.
The government insists her deportation was lawful because an immigration judge ordered the removal of Lopez-Peloza and her mother in 2016, and the Board of Immigration Appeals denied their appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said she could have pursued additional appeals or asked to stay the deportation.
Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, countered that she was deported in clear violation of the Nov. 21 order, and said the government’s actions deprived her of due process. “I was hoping the government would show some leniency and bring her back,” he said. “They violated the court order.”
US District Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government’s admission of the error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic error. But he seemed to rule out accusing the government of contempt of court, noting that the violation did not appear to be intentional. He also questioned whether he had jurisdiction in the case, and appeared to side with the government in concluding that the court order was served several hours after it was sent to Texas.
“It may not be anyone’s fault, but she was a victim of it,” Stearns said, adding at some point that Lopez-Peloza might consider applying for a student visa.
Pomerleau said one potential solution is to allow Lopez Peloza to return to finish her studies while he works to reopen the original removal order.
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