Imagine you’re getting a well-deserved holiday break from college, and seeing family is now your priority. Rather than getting to chat and enjoy food, you’ve been deported. The shock of a lifetime came this Thanksgiving, as a Massachusetts college student was deported when she tried to fly to see her family in Texas. The oversights by ICE, as well as the blatant disrespect for her future, are enough to boil your blood.
Shared by TikToker Realtalkus, and covered by The Boston Glove, the Massachusetts student is a 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a scholarship freshman at Babson College majoring in business. Her goal was to visit family this Thanksgiving. However, she was abruptly stopped and detained at a Massachusetts airport while boarding her flight. Any was told there was an issue with her ticket, which is when federal agents took her into custody. Keep in mind: Any has been in the U.S. since 2014.
Shortly after, Any was taken to ICE’s facility in Burlington and then flown to Texas. But instead of seeing her family there, she was deported to Honduras. She hasn’t been to Honduras since she was literally eight years old. Her life and education have been completely uprooted.
Homeland Security since said in an interview, “This illegal alien entered the country in 2014 and an immigration judge ordered her removed from the country in 2015, over 10 years ago. She has illegally stayed in the country since.”
This is a literal human with a drive for success and the ability to play an important role in our country. And they just threw her on a plane and stripped everything away from her. As Any said herself, “I have worked so hard to be able to be at Babson my first semester, that was my dream. I’m losing everything.”
On top of that, it’s not uncommon for immigration courts to issue orders without somebody being present for their hearing. Even with a final order of removal from the country, things go unseen and unheard of for some time. The fact this is happening to her is inhumane and all-around disturbing. How quickly someone’s hard work can be stripped because being an immigrant.
“At literally one of the best schools in the country. So sickening,” one commenter stated. So, does America not need more educated people?
Another person stated, “We have to VOTE OUT THIS REGIME!!” And, furthermore, the fact that ICE was waiting on-call at an airport during a literal holiday is stomach-turning. Illegal or not, families are being torn apart.
