Congo Didn’t Want Her, She Was Deported Anyway, Now Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata Must Be Returned to the U.S.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to return a Colombian woman to the United States after ruling that officials most likely violated federal law by deporting her to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite the country's refusal to accept her.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, 55, was likely deported illegally after Congolese authorities informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they could not accept her because of her medical conditions, which include diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism.

"The government sent her to the D.R.C., anyway," Leon wrote in the ruling reported by The New York Times, adding that "sending plaintiff to the D.R.C., therefore, was likely illegal."

Federal law permits the U.S. government to deport migrants to third countries, but only if those countries agree to receive them. According to documents obtained by The New York Times, Congo declined to accept Zapata because it could not provide adequate medical care.

The ruling marks a rare instance of a court ordering the Trump administration to bring back a deportee amid the president's expanded removal campaign. Leon directed the administration to report by Friday on steps being taken to return Zapata to the United States.

The case highlights the administration's increasing reliance on third-country deportation agreements for migrants who cannot legally be returned to their home countries because of risks of persecution or torture. In 2025, an immigration judge ruled that Zapata could not be deported to Colombia after finding she would likely face torture there.

Zapata told The New York Times last week that she fled Colombia after suffering repeated abuse and rape by a former partner connected to the national police. Speaking from a hotel outside Kinshasa, where she was being held alongside other deportees, she said: "I'm always in my room 24/7. I am scared all the time."

Reporting by The Bulwark in late-April said ICE had previously attempted to deport Zapata to Mexico before she was ultimately sent to Congo in April with 14 other migrants. Her attorney, Lauren O'Neal, alleged Congolese officials later pressured deportees to sign documents relinquishing legal rights that could result in their return to Colombia.

Leon's ruling also referenced the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident wrongly deported to El Salvador whose legal battle over possible removal to Liberia remains ongoing. A federal judge overseeing that case criticized the administration on Tuesday for making "empty threat after another" about deporting him to African countries where he has no ties.

Originally published on Latin Times