Judge Leon orders the Trump administration to return a Colombian woman wrongly deported to Congo

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia ruled that the deportation of Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata to the Democratic Republic of Congo was likely illegal and ordered the Trump administration to return her to the United States as soon as possible. Judge Leon found that Quiroz Zapata was likely to succeed in her argument that her deportation violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, noting that she had been sent to a country that explicitly refused to accept her because it could not provide sufficient medical care. The administration was ordered to submit a compliance status report by 5 p.m. on May 16, 2026.