Story perspectives

Judge Orders Zapata’s Return From Ebola Zone, Overturns Ban

5/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered the government to bring Zapata back from Kinshasa, Congo.
The Department of Homeland Security invoked a travel ban on Ebola-affected regions to justify the deportation.
Zapata’s deportation placed her in Kinshasa, an Ebola outbreak zone, despite her diabetes and vascular disease.
A 2024 federal ruling barred her return to Colombia because her former partner, linked to the Colombian National Police, abused and threatened her.

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Story summary

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered the government to bring Zapata back from Kinshasa, Congo.
The Department of Homeland Security invoked a travel ban on Ebola-affected regions to justify the deportation.
Zapata’s deportation placed her in Kinshasa, an Ebola outbreak zone, despite her diabetes and vascular disease.
A 2024 federal ruling barred her return to Colombia because her former partner, linked to the Colombian National Police, abused and threatened her.