A female college student who was deported to Honduras while trying to fly home to see her parents for Thanksgiving recently broke her silence about the ordeal, saying she was surprised and disappointed.
Lucia López Berroca, a Massachusetts school student, was stopped at Boston Logan Airport on Thursday, Nov. 20, detained by federal immigration officials and put on a flight back to her Central American country, her attorney Todd Pomerleau confirmed to USA TODAY on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Pomerleau said the customer was told there was a problem with his boarding pass and was handcuffed and escorted from the airport on his way to customer service.
The college freshman, who spoke to WCBV in Boston from Honduras, said he was one of many people targeted by ICE since President Donald Trump took office and was headed to his home in Texas to meet his parents before being taken into custody.
“For me, going to college is about being one of the first people in your family to go to college…and now it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s like it never happened.’ It’s sad how that ended,” López Berroca said in a video posted on the TV station’s website.
Here’s what we know so far about the incident.
Who is Lucia López Berroca?
Any Lucia Lopez Belloca is a 19-year-old freshman at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.
In a letter to Babson College students obtained by the TV station, the school acknowledged that it was aware that one of its students was detained by ICE while returning home for Thanksgiving.
“We understand that this news may be unsettling, especially for our students, faculty, and staff who may already be navigating uncertainty,” the letter reads. “While our ability to share details is limited by law, please know that we remain focused on supporting our students and their families, and the well-being of our community.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the school.
What happened to Lucia López Berroca?
López Berroca’s father told the Austin American-Statesman that his daughter called him from the airport the day she was taken into custody, crying and pleading for help.
Frances Lopez said her daughter and her family had previously been denied asylum, but “we were assured by the judge that no deportation order had been issued.”
Pomerleau told USA TODAY that López-Berroca came to the United States at the age of 9 and “was on trial with her mother seeking asylum, which ended in 2017.”
“I was told she had a good outcome, just like her mother,” Pomerleau said.
López Bejoca was not given a warrant or explanation for her detention, but was later informed by immigration authorities that she had been ordered removed, her lawyer said.
Officials have this to say about the incident:
According to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said López-Belloca entered the United States illegally in 2014, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation in 2015, but “he has remained in the country illegally ever since.”
But Pomerleau reiterated to USA TODAY that the only records found in government databases show his client’s case was closed in 2017.
In response to an interview with USA TODAY, the Department of Homeland Security directed questions to ICE officials regarding López-Belloca’s case.
USA TODAY also reached out to ICE.
It was not immediately known whether she would be allowed to return to the United States.
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
