A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Colombian woman back to the U.S. from Congo, after she was deported to the African nation even though it had refused to accept her because it could not care for her medical needs.
The deportation of Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata 鈥渨as likely illegal,鈥� U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled Wednesday.
Zapata, 55, who has diabetes and a thyroid condition, 鈥渉as been sent to a country that refused to accept her because they cannot provide sufficient medical care,鈥� the ruling said. 鈥淎s a result, she faces a daily risk of medical complications, up to and including death.鈥�
Black spots began to grow on Zapata鈥檚 back and foot while she was in detention, her skin started to peel and her nails blackened, according to documents Zapata submitted in court, which were provided to the AP by her lawyer. She also suffers from depression, anxiety and insomnia.
鈥淪he鈥檚 not doing well and does worry that she鈥檚 going to die,鈥� her lawyer, Lauren O鈥橬eal, said.
Congo didn’t want Zapata but she was sent there anyway
Zapata entered the U.S. from Mexico in August 2024 and was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
A judge found last year that she could not be deported to Colombia because she could be tortured if returned. Her former partner there had ties to the national police force, and beat her so viciously he broke her teeth, stabbed her twice, raped her and threatened to kill her, she wrote in court documents.
The government requested to send her to half a dozen other countries that all refused to accept her, according to court records. The Congolese government on April 14 notified ICE in writing that it also could not take Zapata. Within days, she was sent there anyway, records show.
She was among at least 15 who were sent to Congo, said Rep. Rob Menendez, a democrat of New Jersey, who has been working with Zapata and her family for more than a year.
Menendez likened the case to that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the administration in El Salvador before the he be returned to the U.S.
鈥淲e have to make the assumption that they are small reflections of what is happening more broadly,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese are reflective of this administration having zero concern for due process, zero concern for people鈥檚 legal rights, trampling all over our legal system, trampling all over individual rights and pushing the bounds and limits in ways we would have never even imagined.鈥�
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
She was living legally in the US
Since being deported, Zapata has lived in a hotel in Kinshasa, Congo鈥檚 capital. The hotel gates are locked, O鈥橬eal said. Zapata and other deportees are rarely allowed out, and only with supervision, she said.
鈥淪he was close to signing to agree to go back to Colombia,鈥� said O’Neal, adding that the possibility of being tortured there seemed to her more bearable: “because at least dying there would involve some time where she didn鈥檛 feel so much physical pain.鈥�
Zapata was among thousands of immigrants living legally in the U.S., waiting for rulings on asylum claims, when they were suddenly issued deportation decrees that where .
More than 15,000 third-country deportation orders were issued in the White House push for , advocacy groups say, though only a fraction of the orders have been carried out.
Few details are known about the agreements to accept these deportees, though the U.S. has signed them with a range of countries, including Ecuador, Honduras, Uganda, Cameroon and Congo. Advocacy groups estimate only a couple of hundred third-country deportations, at most, have been carried out.
Hoping for justice and Zapata’s return
The judge, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, ordered the federal government to bring Zapata back as quickly as possible. He wrote that they must update the court on the status of that effort by 5 p.m. Friday and every 72 hours after that.
鈥淚t was at least some level of justice for what鈥檚 been a horrendous broken process for Adriana and her family,鈥� Menendez said.
But they aren鈥檛 鈥渟piking the football,鈥� he said 鈥� they still have to make sure the administration complies with the judge鈥檚 order and brings Zapata back. He worries about all the cases like hers that have been quietly carried out behind the walls of detention centers and on deportation flights that the public hasn鈥檛 learned of yet.
鈥淚t should have never had to happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f this is happening, what else is happening that we don鈥檛 even know about?鈥�
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