Judge orders return of Colombian woman deported to DR Congo

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May 14, 2026

Judge orders US government to return Colombian woman deported to DR Congo

FIRINGS ARE CHIPPING AWAY AT THE COURT’S INDEPENDENCE FIRED BOSTON IMMIGRATION COURT JUDGE RUPAL PATEL SAYS SHE WAS AT WORK FRIDAY WHEN SHE LEARNED SHE WAS OUT OF A JOB. IT WASN’T ENTIRELY UNEXPECTED, BUT I WAS. IT WAS DURING A HEARING. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A HEARING. PATEL BLOCKED THE GOVERNMENT FROM DEPORTING TOUGH STUDENT MAISA OZTURK. DO YOU THINK THIS IS RELATED TO HOW YOU RULED IN THE CASE? I DON’T THINK DIRECTLY. I THINK NO MATTER HOW I RULED IN THAT CASE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED. PATEL WAS APPOINTED DURING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. SHE SAYS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO REMAKE THE IMMIGRATION COURT SYSTEM. THIS IS PART OF THIS LARGER PATTERN OF TRYING TO RESHAPE THE BENCH, TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE READY TO KIND OF ENFORCE THEIR MASS DEPORTATION AGENDA. THE UNION REPRESENTING IMMIGRATION COURT JUDGES SAYS OUT OF 700 JUDGES, 113 HAVE BEEN FIRED UNDER THIS ADMINISTRATION. ALLSTON AND CHELMSFORD HAVE BEEN GUTTED. THOSE IMMIGRATION COURTS HAVE BEEN GUTTED AND SEVERAL SEVERAL OF THE JUDGES THERE, MOST OF THEM HAVE BEEN FIRED. THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAYS ALL JUDGES HAVE A LEGAL, ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO BE IMPARTIAL AND NEUTRAL IN ADJUDICATING CASES. IF A JUDGE VIOLATES THAT OBLIGATION BY DEMONSTRATING A SYSTEMATIC BIAS IN FAVOR OF OR AGAINST EITHER PARTY, THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW IS OBLIGATED TO TAKE ACTION TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF ITS SYSTEM. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A FAIR JUDGE? I TRY REALLY HARD TO BE FAIR FOR EVERY PERSON WHO COMES IN FRONT OF ME. NOW, THE UNION SAYS IT WILL IN FACT FIGHT THIS. PATEL SAYS SHE HAS

Updated: 1:33 PM CDT May 14, 2026

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Judge orders US government to return Colombian woman deported to DR Congo

Updated: 1:33 PM CDT May 14, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to return to the U.S. a Colombian woman who was deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, even after the African country refused to accept her.Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for D.C. ordered the return of Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, 55, as soon as possible and ordered the Trump administration to provide a status update by 5 p.m. Friday on steps taken to facilitate her return.The case is a rare instance of a federal judge ordering the return of a migrant deported under President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown and comes as the administration faces backlash over its “third country” deportation policy, which deports immigrants to countries they have no ties to.Quiroz Zapata was first placed into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after entering the U.S. in August 2024, according to a court document shared by her lawyer, Lauren O’Neal. Quiroz Zapata had told The New York Times in an interview from the DRC that she fled Colombia to escape her former partner, a man tied to the Colombian national police.A U.S. immigration judge later granted her request not to be deported back to Colombia, finding it “more likely than not she will face torture by, or with the acquiescence of the Colombian government or their officials acting under the color of law,” the court document said.As the Trump administration sought a third country to deport Quiroz Zapata, the DRC in April formally refused to accept her due to required medical assistance the country could not adequately guarantee, the document says.Quiroz Zapata has diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, O’Neal told the Times. CNN has reached out to O’Neal for further information on the medical needs.Two days after the DRC’s refusal, Quiroz Zapata was placed on a removal flight on April 16 from the U.S. to the DRC, where she remains to this day, the document says.“The Government sent her to the DRC anyway,” the judge wrote, adding that “sending (the) plaintiff to the DRC, therefore, was likely illegal.” The judge said that Quiroz Zapata “is likely to succeed” in her argument that sending her to the DRC “likely violates the Immigration and Nationality Act.”“There is no question that plaintiff meets the standard for irreparable harm. She has been sent to a country that refused to accept her because they cannot provide sufficient medical care,” the judge wrote. “As a result, she faces a daily risk of medical complications, up to and including death.”“Holding the executive branch to account is the only way to ensure proper oversight and put an end to the abuses of long-standing immigration law and regulations the agency is bound to abide,” O’Neal said in a statement to CNN.CNN has reached out to the Congolese Embassy in Washington and the Department of Homeland Security.In his ruling, the judge cited the case of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who continues to fight against his deportation in court after being wrongfully deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last year and then returned to the United States.The highly publicized Abrego Garcia case has been a sore spot for the Trump administration. Courts at every level of the federal judiciary said the mistake needed to be corrected, yet officials spent months resisting demands that they bring the father of three back to Maryland. The US government continues to claim Abrego Garcia is a dangerous member of the MS-13 gang – which his family and lawyers deny.CNN’s Devon Cole contributed to this report.

Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for D.C. ordered the return of Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, 55, as soon as possible and ordered the Trump administration to provide a status update by 5 p.m. Friday on steps taken to facilitate her return.

The case is a rare instance of a federal judge ordering the return of a migrant deported under President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown and comes as the administration faces backlash over its “third country” deportation policy, which deports immigrants to countries they have no ties to.

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Quiroz Zapata was first placed into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after entering the U.S. in August 2024, according to a court document shared by her lawyer, Lauren O’Neal. Quiroz Zapata had told The New York Times in an interview from the DRC that she fled Colombia to escape her former partner, a man tied to the Colombian national police.

A U.S. immigration judge later granted her request not to be deported back to Colombia, finding it “more likely than not she will face torture by, or with the acquiescence of the Colombian government or their officials acting under the color of law,” the court document said.

As the Trump administration sought a third country to deport Quiroz Zapata, the DRC in April formally refused to accept her due to required medical assistance the country could not adequately guarantee, the document says.

Quiroz Zapata has diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, O’Neal told the Times. CNN has reached out to O’Neal for further information on the medical needs.

Two days after the DRC’s refusal, Quiroz Zapata was placed on a removal flight on April 16 from the U.S. to the DRC, where she remains to this day, the document says.

Deaf 6-year-old deported to Colombia without hearing aids, family’s attorney says

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“The Government sent her to the DRC anyway,” the judge wrote, adding that “sending (the) plaintiff to the DRC, therefore, was likely illegal.” The judge said that Quiroz Zapata “is likely to succeed” in her argument that sending her to the DRC “likely violates the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

“There is no question that plaintiff meets the standard for irreparable harm. She has been sent to a country that refused to accept her because they cannot provide sufficient medical care,” the judge wrote. “As a result, she faces a daily risk of medical complications, up to and including death.”

“Holding the executive branch to account is the only way to ensure proper oversight and put an end to the abuses of long-standing immigration law and regulations the agency is bound to abide,” O’Neal said in a statement to CNN.

CNN has reached out to the Congolese Embassy in Washington and the Department of Homeland Security.

California mother who was deported to Mexico despite DACA status returns home

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In his ruling, the judge cited the case of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who continues to fight against his deportation in court after being wrongfully deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last year and then returned to the United States.

The highly publicized Abrego Garcia case has been a sore spot for the Trump administration. Courts at every level of the federal judiciary said the mistake needed to be corrected, yet officials spent months resisting demands that they bring the father of three back to Maryland. The US government continues to claim Abrego Garcia is a dangerous member of the MS-13 gang – which his family and lawyers deny.

CNN’s Devon Cole contributed to this report.