Concord, New Hampshire — Babson College has instructed faculty and staff to provide “academic and community support” to a student who was deported to Honduras when she attempted to return to her home country to visit her family for Thanksgiving.
A Lucia Lopez Peloza, 19, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport on November 20 when she tried to board a plane to surprise her family in Texas. She was sent to Honduras two days later despite a court order prohibiting the government from transporting her outside Massachusetts or the United States, according to her lawyer.
Lopez-Peloza, whose family immigrated from Honduras when she was 7, now resides with her grandparents. The college’s Dean of University Life, Caitlin Capozzi, notified faculty and staff of Lopez-Pelosa’s detention on Tuesday.
“Our ability to share details is limited by law, but please know that our focus remains on supporting the student and his or her family, as well as the well-being of our community,” the dean wrote in a letter published Monday. “The relevant faculty and staff have been notified so they can provide appropriate academic and community support in the student’s absence.”
Lopez-Peloza, a freshman, is studying business administration at Babson University, which has 2,800 undergraduates on its campus in Wellesley, west of Boston.
The college is following protocols, staying informed, and providing links to resources for students, Capozzi said. A letter posted online from college president Stephen Spinelli said the college would not comment further due to legal and privacy considerations.
“We understand that this news may seem alarming, especially for our students, faculty and staff who may already be struggling with uncertainty,” he wrote.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an immigration judge ordered Lopez-Pelosa’s deportation in 2015. When asked about the emergency order prohibiting her deportation, DHS provided an earlier statement confirming Lopez-Pelosa’s detention, but did not address the court order.
Todd Pomerleau, Lopez-Peloza’s attorney, said he could find no record of her original deportation order.