Judge orders Trump govt to return Colombian woman illegally deported to DR Congo

U.S. district judge Richard Leon has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to return to the United States a Colombian woman deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite the country’s refusal to accept her.

The judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration likely acted “illegally” by deporting Adriana Zapata, 55, to the DRC in April, the New York Times reported, citing court documents shared by the Colombian’s lawyer, Lauren O’Neal.

As part of his immigration crackdown, Mr Trump’s administration has signed agreements with several African nations, including the DRC, to accept migrants deported from the U.S. instead of being returned to their home countries. DRC said the deal was “strictly transitional, temporary, and time-limited”.

But Ms Zapata, whose lawyer told The Times she had diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypothyroidism, was rejected by the DRC over concerns about her health.

The DRC’s interior ministry told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a letter that it could not accept Ms Zapata because it was unable to provide adequate medical care.

While federal law allows the U.S government to deport migrants to countries other than their own, those countries must agree to accept them.

“The government sent her to the D.R.C., anyway,” the judge said. “Sending plaintiff to the D.R.C., therefore, was likely illegal.”

Mr Leon ordered the Trump administration to inform him by Friday evening what steps it had taken for Ms Zapata’s return to the U.S.

The judge also noted the case of Kilmar Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant “wrongfully” deported to a prison in El Salvador in March 2025. The Supreme Court ordered his return to the United States.

Ms Zapata fled Colombia over rape and torture from her former partner, Manuel Restrepo, whose father is a senior officer in the national police.

In February 2025, an immigration judge granted Ms Zapata protection from deportation after reviewing her documentary evidence. The judge said she was likely to face torture again if deported.

Despite the ruling, ICE attempted to deport Ms Zapata to Mexico on March 5, 2025, but Mexican authorities did not accept her. She remained in ICE detention until her deportation.

Ms Zapata was deported on April 18 alongside 14 other migrants—the first group the DRC agreed to accept under its deportation deal with the Trump administration—and is now staying in a hotel outside Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.

“I’m always in my room 24/7. I am scared all the time,” she said in the interview before the court ruling.

Since returning to the White House, Mr Trump has pushed to deport migrants to third countries, signing agreements with Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Eswatini to accept deportees from the United States.