US: Honduras prison fire victim wrongly deported
Mar 2, 10:53 PM EST
US: Honduras prison fire victim wrongly deported
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Honduran citizen living in Los Angeles was wrongly deported in October, and went on to die in last month's massive prison fire in his home country, immigration officials said Friday.
Nelson Avila-Lopez, 20, was mistakenly deported in October, and was one of the 360 inmates who died in the Feb. 14 fire at the Comayagua prison in Honduras, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told KPCC radio in a statement.
Four years earlier in an attempt to avoid gang recruitment in Honduras, Avila-Lopez crossed the border illegally at age 16 to be with his mother in Los Angeles, KPCC reported.
In September he was detained and slated for deportation, but his lawyer argued Avila-Lopez would face danger from gang members if he had to go back to Honduras, and a stay was automatically granted so his case could be reviewed.
More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HONDURAS_PRISON_FIRE_MISTAKEN_DEPORTEE?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
