(BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS) A 19-year-old Babson College freshman who came to the United States as a child was shackled and sent to Honduras over Thanksgiving, in what Her lawyer calls an ICE deportation that defied a federal court order and left the student describing the experience as a “horror show.”
What happened at Boston Logan International Airport
Any Lucía López Belloza, a first-year business student at Babson College in Wellesley, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport on November 20, 2025, as she prepared to board a flight to Texas to surprise her family for the holiday. She never made it onto that plane.
Two agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) approached her at the gate and told her to step aside. She recalled:
“They were like, ‘Any, right’? … ‘OK, you’re going to come with us because you’re going to have to sign a bunch of paperwork.’”
When she told them she needed to board, the agents replied, “Oh, you’re not even gonna be on that plane.”
According to López Belloza, the agents did not initially tell her she was facing deportation. She was taken into custody and moved out of Massachusetts while her lawyers rushed to court.
Emergency court order and the alleged defiance
- On November 21, 2025, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs signed an emergency order requiring that López Belloza be kept in the country while the court reviewed her case.
- Despite that order, López Belloza says she was placed in restraints and removed from the United States the next day.
- On November 22, 2025, she was “shackled, handcuffed and deported to Honduras,” which she called deeply traumatic.
She described the experience as dehumanizing:
“It felt like if I was a criminal when I’m not … not only seeing me, but seeing a bunch of us being treated like that, being treated like criminals.”
Legal contention from López Belloza’s attorney
Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, contends that ICE violated Judge Burroughs’ order by proceeding with the removal before the court could fully consider the case.
Key points from Pomerleau’s claim:
– The judge’s order, he says, required the court to have at least three days to consider her situation before any deportation could take place.
– ICE allegedly carried out the deportation one day after the judge’s order, preventing the legal fight from being fully heard.
Pomerleau also questions the official basis for the removal:
– ICE has cited a 2015 deportation order as justification.
– Pomerleau states he has not been able to find any record of an active removal order against his client in the files he reviewed.
– He characterized the action as part of what he sees as “a crackdown on people without legal status who don’t have criminal backgrounds,” calling it “beyond the pale.”
Background: López Belloza’s life and ties to the U.S.
- She arrived in the United States at age 7 with both parents and grew up in Texas.
- She attended school in Texas and prepared for college there.
- This fall she began her freshman year at Babson College, known for its business programs and international student body.
Her life now spans:
– The Texas community where she was raised
– The Boston-area college where she began higher education
– Northern Honduras, where she currently is staying with her grandparents after deportation
Current status: school, legal case, and support
- López Belloza is still enrolled at Babson College but is attending classes from abroad as she can.
- Babson has instructed professors and staff to adjust and provide support during what may be a prolonged absence.
In a message to campus, Dean of Campus Life Caitlin Capozzi said:
“Relevant faculty and staff have been informed so they can provide appropriate academic and community support in the student’s absence.”
Broader legal and procedural questions
The clash between a federal emergency court order and an ICE deportation raises procedural questions that extend beyond this single case. When a federal judge orders that a person must remain in the United States while a case is pending, that order is intended to freeze removal plans until the court can weigh the facts.
If deportation proceeds despite such an order, it prompts questions about:
– Whether the enforcement agency followed court rules
– How and when court orders are communicated and enforced
– The legal weight of older deportation orders (e.g., the 2015 order ICE cited) when records are unclear
Human impact
For López Belloza, the legal issues are experienced as personal trauma. She said being restrained and grouped with others erased the sense of being a normal college student and left lasting emotional harm.
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, cases that involve students, emergency court orders, and rapid removals often produce deep fear among young people who grew up in the United States without legal status. López Belloza’s experience — beginning as a routine airport encounter — quickly became a life-changing event.
Court timeline and next steps
- A federal judge has ordered responses in López Belloza’s case by December 3, 2025.
- That deadline requires the government and her legal team to explain their positions and will serve as a near-term marker for how the court resolves questions such as:
- The evidentiary weight of the 2015 deportation order
- Enforcement of Judge Burroughs’ emergency order
Until the court reviews the filings, key questions about procedure and authority remain unresolved.
ICE’s position and public information
ICE points to its past order against López Belloza as the reason for its actions. The agency’s enforcement mission is summarized on its public site: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. López Belloza’s attorney, noting the lack of a record in the files he examined, says there is an apparent gap between what the agency claims and what can be confirmed.
Where López Belloza is now
López Belloza is living with her grandparents in northern Honduras while her legal case continues in federal court in Massachusetts. She is:
- Waiting on court filings from Massachusetts
- Receiving support emails and academic accommodations from Babson College
- Awaiting further updates from her attorney about the legal fight over the deportation
Her journey — from lining up to board a Thanksgiving flight to being removed from the country she has known since age 7 — has become a test case of how ICE deportations interact with federal court orders and the rights of students who grew up in the U.S.
Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman brought to the U.S. as a child, was detained at Boston Logan on Nov. 20. A federal judge issued an emergency order Nov. 21 to keep her in the country while the court reviewed her case, but she was allegedly shackled and deported to Honduras on Nov. 22. Her attorney says ICE defied the order and relied on a disputed 2015 removal order. Babson is providing academic support as legal proceedings continue.
