Student claims she was living the 'American Dream' before being deported against court order

A 19-year-old student, recently deported just before Thanksgiving, recounted being handcuffed and forced to sleep on the floor in a detention facility. Speaking from Honduras, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza shared her experience, saying, "I burst into tears because I couldn't believe it, and spending the night there, sleeping on the floor."

Lopez Belloza, who came to the U.S. from Honduras with her family at the age of 8, was preparing to board a flight from Massachusetts to Texas to surprise her parents for the holiday when immigration officials detained her.

She recalled, "When they told me, 'You're going to come with us' ... I was like, 'Oh, I have a plane that I literally have to be there right now.' They're like, 'No, you're not even going to go on the plane.'" Officers declined to answer her questions about the reason for her arrest or her destination.

Court documents reveal that a federal judge quickly ordered that Lopez Belloza should not be removed from the U.S. or transferred outside Massachusetts. Nevertheless, she was sent to a detention center in Texas that same evening and deported to Honduras the next day.

Asked about being deported despite a judge's order, Lopez Belloza said, "It feels unfair. If there was an order, then why did everything happen to me so fast, within three days?"

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that Lopez Belloza had received a removal order in 2015. "On November 20, CBP arrested Any Lopez-Belloza, an illegal alien from Honduras, as she was attempting to board a flight at Boston Logan International Airport," the spokesperson said. "She entered the country in 2014, and an immigration judge ordered her removed in 2015. She has stayed in the U.S. illegally since then."

The DHS official added that individuals in similar situations could choose voluntary departure with financial incentives, rather than risk forced removal.

Lopez Belloza told ABC News that her parents were unaware she was traveling. "They didn't know I was at the airport," she said. "They didn't know anything ... and I just thought ... now the surprise is going to be that I got arrested. It shouldn't have been this way." She expressed regret, saying, "I've never lied to my parents in that kind of way."

This marks her first return to Honduras since her family fled over a decade ago. She emphasized that she has no criminal record and had been fully focused on her studies. "I was living my American Dream," Lopez Belloza said.

She spoke about her college achievements and her family's sacrifices: "My parents work so hard to send me to college. I received great financial aid and was accepted by a school that wanted me, and I wanted to go. My dream was to be in college, achieving not only my dream but my family's dream."

Lopez Belloza's deportation was part of the Trump administration's stringent immigration policies, under which hundreds of thousands of migrants were removed from the U.S.

Reflecting on the situation, she asked, "Why is he getting people who are living in the United States, working day and night, people like me, who are in college, pursuing their dreams and education?"

Author: Logan Reeves