Federal Court Orders the Return of a Colombian Woman Deported to the Congo

In a court ruling that challenges the operational mechanisms of recent deportation campaigns, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to immediately return a Colombian citizen who was mistakenly sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The ruling represents an unusual legal setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to relocate migrants who cannot be repatriated to their countries of origin.

The central figure in the case, Adriana María Quiroz Zapata, 55, was deported to the African country in April. However, court documents shared with The New York Times reveal that the DRC government had formally refused to accept her.

Judge Richard J. Leon, who presided over the case, was blunt in his assessment of the action: “The government sent her to the DRC anyway. Sending the plaintiff to the DRC, therefore, was likely illegal.”

The case stems from a controversial order by the Trump administration to transfer deported foreigners to “third countries” with which they may have no ties whatsoever.

A legal loophole in border relocation agreements

Current immigration policy has sought alternatives for those individuals who, by court order, cannot be returned to their countries of origin due to well-founded risks of persecution or torture.

In the case of Quiroz Zapata, an immigration court ruled in 2025 that she could not be sent to Colombia after considering evidence that she would suffer abuse at the hands of a former partner linked to the national police.

Faced with this limitation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have turned to agreements with third countries willing to accept deportees. However, federal law is strict: for a deportation to a third country to be valid, that country must formally accept the individual.

Although the Congo had agreed to accept certain migrants, the Congolese Ministry of the Interior sent a letter to ICE specifically rejecting Ms. Zapata’s case.

The reasons were medical: the woman suffers from diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypothyroidism, conditions that the Congolese healthcare system could not guarantee adequate treatment for. The failure to comply with this prior refusal is the basis for the return order issued by Judge Leon.

Precedents and Pressure on the Administration

This is not the first case of a deportation overturned by the courts. Judge Leon cited as a precedent the case of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Maryland resident who was erroneously sent to El Salvador last year and whose return was ordered by the federal court.

The court ruling highlights the tension between strict adherence to legal procedures and the pressure faced by federal agencies to enforce removal orders.

Currently, Zapata remains in a hotel on the outskirts of Kinshasa along with 14 other migrants under conditions she describes as one of constant fear.

Judge Richard J. Leon, originally nominated by President George W. Bush, has given the administration a deadline expiring this Friday night to report on the specific measures taken to bring Quiroz Zapata back to U.S. territory.

The resolution of the case remains pending on the official response from the State Department and compliance with the court order within the established deadline.

EDITOR'S NOTE: the title of this article was modified to better reflect the content of the news story.