Judge orders Trump administration to return Colombian woman deported to DRC back to the US

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Colombian woman back to the US from the Democratic Republic of Congo , after she was deported to the African country that had refused to accept her. The deportation of Adriana María Quiroz Zapata “was likely illegal”, the US district judge Richard Leon ruled on Wednesday. Quiroz Zapata, 55, who has diabetes and a thyroid condition, “has been sent to a country that refused to accept her because they cannot provide sufficient medical care”, the ruling said. “As a result, she faces a daily risk of medical complications, up to and including death.” Black spots began to grow on Quiroz Zapata’s back and foot while she was in detention, her skin started to peel and her nails blackened, according to a declaration that Quiroz Zapata submitted in court, and which was provided to the Associated Press by her lawyer. “She’s not doing well and does worry that she’s going to die,” her lawyer, Lauren O’Neal, said. Quiroz Zapata entered the US from Mexico in August 2024 and was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) custody. Since being deported, she has lived in a hotel in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital. The hotel gates are locked, O’Neal said. Quiroz Zapata and other deportees are rarely allowed out, and only with supervision, she said. …