Babson College Supports Deported Student Home for Thanksgiving

(BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS) A 19‑year‑old Babson College freshman who thought she was heading home to Texas for a Thanksgiving surprise instead found herself deported to Honduras from Logan International Airport, despite what her lawyer says was a court order blocking her removal from the United States. The student, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, was detained at Boston’s main airport on November 20, 2025, and placed on a flight out of the country two days later, a move that has shaken the Babson community and raised fresh questions about immigration enforcement in cases involving long‑term residents.

What happened at Logan International Airport

According to her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, immigration officers stopped Lopez Belloza at the gate area as she tried to board a domestic flight from Logan International Airport to Texas, where she planned to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. Pomerleau said she was then held in custody and removed from Massachusetts and the country on November 22, 2025, even though a court order was supposed to prohibit her removal from both the state and the United States.

“She should not have been taken out of Massachusetts, much less deported,” Pomerleau told reporters.

He added that he has been unable to locate any record of the original deportation order that federal officials say dates back to 2015.

Background and personal history

Lopez Belloza’s case highlights the complicated layers of the U.S. immigration system for young people who came as children.

• Her family left Honduras when she was 7 years old.
• She grew up in the United States and later enrolled at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she is studying business.
• Friends say she wanted to build a career to support relatives in Texas and her grandparents in Honduras, where she is now staying after her removal.

Official response and record concerns

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that she was detained and deported but has not publicly addressed the claim that a court order barred her removal. DHS has also not responded to questions about why her attorney cannot find the 2015 deportation order that officials appear to have relied on.

According to the Department of Homeland Securityhttps://www.dhs.gov/immigration-and-customs-enforcement), removal orders are usually documented in a person’s immigration file and should be traceable through government records. The reported absence of such documentation is especially striking to immigration lawyers following this case.

Campus response at Babson College

Inside Babson College, administrators moved quickly to respond to the sudden disappearance of a first‑year student just days before Thanksgiving.

• On November 25, 2025, Caitlin Capozzi, Dean of Campus Life, emailed faculty and staff explaining that Lopez Belloza had been deported and asking them to provide “appropriate support” to classmates affected by her absence.
• Capozzi said the college was working to support the student “academically and in the community,” but noted that privacy laws limited what Babson could share about her immigration situation.

Babson’s president, Stephen Spinelli, also acknowledged the deportation and said college leaders knew the news might be “unsettling” to students and staff, particularly those from immigrant families. He declined to offer further details, citing legal and privacy concerns, and emphasized the school’s focus on supporting Lopez Belloza and her family.

A few institutional facts:

• Babson enrollment: about 2,800 undergraduate students
• Known for: business programs
• Student makeup: large number of international and first‑generation students

Student and community reaction

The deportation has stirred strong feelings among classmates who describe Lopez Belloza as a hardworking student who blended quickly into campus life. Many are now worried about other students with complex immigration histories.

• “One day she was in class talking about going home for Thanksgiving, and the next day we heard she was gone,” said one Babson freshman who asked to remain anonymous.
• Students expressed fear about traveling and uncertainty over how safe they are when crossing airport checkpoints.

Legal questions and analysis

Immigration attorneys say the most troubling element of the case is the apparent conflict between the reported court order and the deportation itself.

• If a judge truly barred her removal from the United States, federal officers may have violated that order by deporting her.
• Pomerleau is still trying to reconstruct the full record, including what occurred in 2015 and how Lopez Belloza’s information surfaced when she tried to fly out of Boston.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, cases where long‑standing court protections seem to be ignored are rare but deeply upsetting to immigrant communities, because they suggest that even people who turned to the courts for help may not be fully safe.

Unanswered questions from DHS

Federal authorities have provided limited detail, leaving key questions unresolved:

• Did Logan Airport officers have specific instructions about Lopez Belloza before she arrived at the terminal?
• Did her name appear during a routine database check tied to her ticket or ID?
• What steps, if any, were taken to verify the status of the alleged court order before carrying out the deportation?

Without answers to those questions, experts cannot determine whether this was a miscommunication, a records breakdown, or a more serious disregard of judicial authority.

Human impact

The personal consequences are stark and immediate.

• Lopez Belloza is now living with her grandparents in Honduras — a country she left as a child and barely remembers.
• Her parents and siblings remain in Texas and expected a holiday reunion; they now rely on phone and video calls to stay connected.
• The sudden displacement has been deeply jarring for a first‑year student just starting adult life in the United States.

Within Babson, staff are trying to keep her connected to her studies from abroad. Officials have not said whether she can continue classes remotely or how long the school can hold her place if she remains outside the country. For now, the emphasis is on open communication and mental‑health support:

• Counselors and advisors have been asked to watch for stress signals among classmates, especially those with immigration concerns.
• The college is attempting to support Lopez Belloza “academically and in the community” while respecting privacy rules.

Broader implications

This case underscores how routine actions — like flying home for a holiday — can become life‑changing for undocumented students or people with unresolved immigration histories. For many, airports are risk points where past cases and old orders can resurface unexpectedly.

Lopez Belloza’s experience at Logan International Airport is now a vivid example of that fear, reminding families and students that legal status can shape even ordinary plans.

What’s next

As her lawyer continues to seek answers and Babson supports her from afar, Lopez Belloza’s future remains uncertain. Her ability to:

1. Challenge the deportation,
2. Return to the United States, and
3. Resume in‑person study at Babson

will depend on complex legal arguments and federal agencies’ willingness to review how her case was handled.

For now, a young woman who once viewed Boston and Texas as the two anchors of her life finds herself thousands of miles away, trying to keep her education on track while she waits for the law to catch up with her story.