A 19-year-old college freshman in Massachusetts was unexpectedly swept up in the federal government’s intensified immigration enforcement just before Thanksgiving. According to the New York Times, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport planning to fly to Texas to surprise her parents. Instead, immigration officers stopped her at the gate, prevented her from boarding, and transferred her first to a detention facility in Texas before putting her on a flight to Honduras. Her family and legal representatives are now scrambling to determine whether she can return.
Lopez Belloza came to the U.S. at age 7, the Boston Globe reports. Her father says the family fled rising crime in their home country and applied for asylum, but the claim was denied. That denial appears to have resulted in a deportation order issued roughly a decade ago—an order the family says they never knew existed. Their attorney is still trying to track down full records, according to the Guardian. While such orders were not always aggressively enforced in previous years, enforcement has increased under President Trump’s second term.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Lopez Belloza “unlawfully entered the United States from Mexico,” adding that “under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is committed to prioritizing public safety.” Lopez Belloza is currently staying with her grandparents in Honduras while seeking a path back to the United States. “I worked so hard to get to Babson for my first semester—that was my dream,” she told the Globe. “I’m losing everything.”
Babson College says it is offering support to the student and her family, the Associated Press reports. “Our ability to share specifics is limited by law, but please know that our focus remains on supporting the student and their family, as well as the wellbeing of our community,” said Caitlin Capozzi, the college’s dean of campus life, in a message to faculty and staff. She added that relevant faculty and staff have been notified so they can provide appropriate academic and community support during Lopez Belloza’s absence.