- A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit of a deported Babson student after she refused a government-arranged return flight.
- The deportation occurred despite a temporary judicial order blocking her removal due to an ICE communication error.
- Attorneys argue the return flight was a trap for re-detention, while the judge ruled jurisdiction was lost.
(MASSACHUSETTS) — U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns dismissed on March 6, 2026 a lawsuit filed by Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a Babson College student deported to Honduras after she declined an ICE-arranged return flight that could have brought her back to the United States.
Stearns ruled the court could no longer keep the case alive because Lopez Belloza chose not to board the government-arranged flight, ending what he described as the court’s remaining basis to keep jurisdiction.
“The sad truth is that when Any declined the flight she also waived this court’s only remaining basis for jurisdiction. The petition thus must be dismissed,” Stearns wrote.
The dismissal, in Massachusetts federal court, followed weeks of litigation over her detention at Boston Logan International Airport, her rapid transfer out of state, and her removal while a judicial order aimed at stopping her deportation was in effect.
Lopez Belloza, a 20-year-old freshman at Babson College, challenged her detention and deportation after immigration authorities stopped her in November 2025 while she traveled domestically for the Thanksgiving holiday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement transferred her from Massachusetts to Texas and then removed her to Honduras, despite a Massachusetts judge issuing an order minutes after her case was filed to block her removal for 72 hours.
A government lawyer later acknowledged an ICE officer made a mistake by failing to properly notify others in the agency about the court order, a point that became central to a later effort to arrange her return.
Lopez Belloza’s legal team has said she did not know she was subject to a final removal order entered when she was 11, and the case became a closely watched test of how old immigration orders can shape outcomes years later.
Immigration authorities detained Lopez Belloza at Boston Logan International Airport on November 20, 2025 as she attempted to board a flight to Texas for Thanksgiving.
Her lawyers filed suit in Massachusetts federal court after the detention, but immigration authorities had already transferred her to Texas by the time the case was filed.
ICE deported her to Honduras on November 22, 2025, even though a Massachusetts judge had issued an order minutes after the filing to block her removal for 72 hours.
In federal court filings dated January 16, 2026, the government acknowledged that an ICE officer “failed to properly activate an alert system” that would have flagged the judicial order barring her removal.
Prosecutors called it a “tragic bureaucratic mistake,” court filings said.
Stearns responded weeks later by ordering the government to try to put Lopez Belloza back in the position she held before the error, at least long enough for her to pursue her claims.
On February 13, 2026, Stearns ordered the U.S. government to facilitate Lopez Belloza’s return to the United States by the end of February to allow her to pursue her legal claims.
ICE then arranged a flight from Honduras to Harlingen, Texas, setting up a moment that ultimately determined whether the case would continue in Massachusetts.
On February 27, 2026, Lopez Belloza declined to board the ICE-arranged flight.
Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, alleged the flight was a “trap” because ICE agents, including Agent Raul Castro, gave vague assurances of release while court filings indicated the government intended to detain and re-deport her within 72 hours of her arrival.
The judge’s dismissal turned on the consequences of that refusal and what it meant for the court’s ability to provide relief after her deportation.
Stearns said that by declining the flight, she removed what the court saw as its last remaining basis to keep the dispute active.
He also said that had she returned, the earlier court protections would have remained in effect long enough for her to file a new legal challenge in Texas.
The case put a spotlight on how prior removal orders can continue to shape people’s lives years later, including those who live in the United States as students.
Lopez Belloza came to the United States from Honduras when she was 8 years old, her legal team said.
A DHS spokesperson framed the government’s response as an attempt to comply with the court while stressing the underlying legality of the removal order.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to comply with the court’s order by arranging Lopez Belloza’s return to the United States but she ‘failed to appear for her prearranged flight.’ ICE made multiple attempts to contact her. Lopez Belloza entered the country in 2014 and an immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2015,” the spokesperson said in a statement dated March 1, 2026.
In a separate statement issued shortly after her initial deportation, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said on December 8, 2025: “She received full due process and was removed to Honduras.”
The dispute also highlighted the legal pressures created when immigration authorities move detainees across state lines quickly, a practice that can affect where a person can seek relief and how fast lawyers can reach them.
Her lawyers filed the Massachusetts case after her detention at Boston Logan International Airport, but the transfer to Texas happened before the court could prevent it.
The next day, she was deported to Honduras.
The timing became a key feature of the legal fight, because a court order meant to prevent transfer or removal out of Massachusetts for 72 hours had already been entered.
Stearns’ later facilitation order attempted to address that error, but it set up a new dilemma about what would happen once Lopez Belloza landed.
The government indicated it would facilitate her return but also planned to move to deport her again upon arrival and had the authority to detain her.
Lopez Belloza’s decision not to board the flight “appears to have been driven by fears that she would be detained again immediately after landing and quickly placed back into deportation proceedings,” the court developments said.
Faced with the possibility of re-entering the same enforcement process, she remained in Honduras instead of boarding the plane.
That choice, and the judge’s conclusion that it foreclosed the court’s ability to continue the case, underscored a broader practical question raised by the litigation.
Even when a court identifies a government error, returning someone to the United States to correct it can carry the risk of new detention and renewed deportation efforts.
The case also drew attention to what lawyers and advocates have described as lingering, long-unnoticed immigration orders that remain active in federal systems.
For many immigrants, especially those brought to the United States as children, an old removal order may remain in the system even if they have built their lives in the country, enrolled in school, or assumed their status issues had been resolved.
Those problems can resurface during travel, airport screening, or contact with immigration officials, the filings and statements surrounding the case said.
Lopez Belloza’s detention during domestic travel sharpened those concerns for students and other noncitizens who may assume that travel within the United States poses fewer risks than crossing a border.
The case showed how domestic travel can trigger detention if someone is flagged in federal immigration databases, even when the person is traveling for a holiday break.
For college students, that risk can be heightened during school breaks, internships, conferences, and family visits, when travel patterns increase and time-sensitive plans collide with enforcement actions.
The dispute also raised broader due process questions about whether noncitizens have a meaningful opportunity to challenge deportation orders when they are moved quickly between states or removed before courts can intervene.
Stearns’ dismissal did not resolve those policy questions, but it reflected the limits judges face once a person is outside the country and declines an offered return under the government’s terms.
DHS has defended the underlying legality of Lopez Belloza’s removal, even as it acknowledged procedural errors in how the deportation unfolded.
The government’s admission that an ICE officer “failed to properly activate an alert system” showed how inter-agency communication failures can play a decisive role when timelines compress and multiple offices handle custody and transport.
That internal error acknowledgment also interacted with public statements emphasizing enforcement authority, leaving Lopez Belloza weighing the risk of returning to a system that had already removed her once despite a court order.
The legal and practical stakes reverberated beyond one student, touching on how quickly removals can outpace legal review.
The case also underscored how court remedies can narrow when correcting an alleged error could expose the person to immediate detention and another deportation attempt.
Lopez Belloza has remained in Honduras as of March 2026, while her ties to Babson College continue in a different form.
She has been forced to attend classes remotely from Honduras while living with her grandparents, according to the case timeline and court developments.
Her parents, who reside in Texas, have reported being “traumatized” and fearful of leaving their home after ICE agents reportedly visited their residence in December 2025 following media coverage of their daughter’s case.
Pomerleau said the case will be appealed, keeping the legal dispute active even after Stearns closed the Massachusetts proceedings.
Her lawyers have filed an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
DHS and ICE statements about the case have appeared through official channels including the DHS newsroom and ICE press releases, as the agency faced scrutiny over the error it acknowledged and the consequences for a college student stopped at Boston Logan International Airport and removed within days.
