Judge orders Trump administration to return Colombian woman deported to DRC back to the US | US immigration
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Colombian woman back to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo after she was deported to the African country that refused to accept her.
U.S. district judge Richard Leon ruled Wednesday that Adriana María Quiroz Zapata’s deportation was “most likely unlawful.”
The decision stated that 55-year-old Quiroz Zapata, who had diabetes and thyroid disease, “was sent to a country that did not accept him because they could not provide adequate medical care.” “As a result, he faces a daily risk of medical complications, up to and including death.”
While in custody, Quiroz Zapata began to develop black spots on his back and feet, his skin began to peel off and his nails turned black, according to a statement Quiroz Zapata filed in court and provided to The Associated Press by his lawyer.
“He’s not doing well and he’s worried he’s going to die,” said his lawyer, Lauren O’Neal.
Quiroz Zapata entered the United States from Mexico in August 2024 and was placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Since his deportation, he has been living in a hotel in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. O’Neal said the hotel’s doors were locked. Quiroz said Zapata and other deportees were allowed out rarely and only under supervision.
Quiroz Zapata was among thousands of immigrants living legally in the United States awaiting decisions on their asylum claims; Suddenly, deportation orders were issued ordering their deportation to countries with which most of them had no connections.
Advocacy groups say more than 15,000 third-country deportation orders were issued by the White House to deport more immigrants, but only a fraction of the orders were carried out.
Few details are known about the agreements to accept these deportees, although the United States has signed agreements with a number of countries, including Ecuador, Honduras, Uganda, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Advocacy groups estimate that, at most, only a few hundred deportations to third countries have been carried out.
