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The narrative twisted further as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a conflicting statement, asserting that Lopez Belloza had entered the US in 2014, and an immigration judge ordered her removal the following year, claiming she had “illegally stayed in the country since.” This official stance clashed dramatically with her lawyer’s account, who argued that government databases indicated her case was closed in 2017. Pomerleau even stated her family had received explicit assurances from a judge that they would not be deported, leading them to believe their situation was resolved. Lopez Belloza herself echoed this sentiment from Honduras, expressing profound disbelief: “If I had been aware of my 2017 deportation order, I would not have traveled with my valid passport. I would have dedicated significant time and effort during the past eight years to hiring an attorney who could help me resolve my immigration situation.” This young woman, a scholarship student at Babson College, had dedicated her life to achieving her academic dreams. “I have worked so hard to be able to be at Babson my first semester, that was my dream,” she lamented. Was this a systemic failure, a cruel oversight, or something far more sinister?
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