Attorneys for the families and civil rights and immigration advocacy groups say three US-citizen children, including a 4-year-old undergoing treatment for metastatic cancer, were deported to Honduras with their moms last week.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Project, among other groups, claimed in a news release Friday that a woman was deported with her 2-year-old in one case and another mother with her 4- and 7-year-olds in another.
According to their lawyers and court documents, all were arrested when the ladies went to regular meetings with officials in Louisiana as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, or ISAP.
😡Trump’s administration deported three U.S. citizen children in the middle of the night according to Washington Post and ACLU.
One of them was a four-year-old with Stage 4 cancer deported without medication or ability to contact doctors.Who the fuck are the people who support… pic.twitter.com/5DT15A8yBF
— Mario 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@PawlowskiMario) April 27, 2025
Advocates for the families claim that when taken as a whole, their expulsions from the US highlight worries about a lack of due process under the Trump administration’s immigration campaign.
Gracie Willis, a lawyer and the National Immigration Project’s raid response coordinator, who represents the 2-year-old through a family friend serving as the petitioner in the continuing legal case, stated, “We are seeing in real time due process eroded.” “That is extremely worrisome, and these cases are an example of that.”
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been contacted by reporters for comment. The story of the 2-year-old, who is known in court documents as V.M.L., was previously covered by CNN. According to an emergency petition filed in federal court, ICE arrested her Tuesday when she was “attending a routine check-in” with her mother and her 11-year-old sister.
Citing a 2012 deportation case, the judge stated that “it is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a U.S. citizen,” but he also set a hearing on May 16 to discuss the child’s deportation despite the mother’s lack of documentation.
The second case is a close echo: Erin Hebert, the mother’s lawyer, said the woman was arrested Thursday after she brought her kids to an ISAP check-in in Saint Rose, which is just outside of New Orleans. Hebert told on Sunday that the mother, who has been in south Louisiana for over ten years but does not have legal status, was requested to bring the two children and their passports to the meeting.
However, Hebert informed them upon their arrival that she was not permitted to go to the meeting with the family. Hebert was told the family had been taken into custody some twenty to thirty minutes later, but officials would not tell her where they were transported. Two ICE officers were waiting for the family during the appointment, Hebert stated after talking to her client.
Three U.S. citizen children were deported with their mothers by ICE on Friday morning. One of the children was undergoing cancer treatment and one of the mothers is pregnant. This is both insane and heartless.https://t.co/6otPeVCYcZ pic.twitter.com/wi5EbX7YSf
— 🌒September🌕Rayne🌘 (@Lippyaddiction) April 26, 2025
Hebert then proceeded to the New Orleans field office of ICE, where she stated that she had prepared a stay of removal before her client’s meeting and had filed it in an attempt to keep them in the country. She called the office several times during the day to inquire on their whereabouts, but she claimed she never received an answer.
According to Hebert, the family was flown to Honduras early on Friday morning. Hebert stated, “Without access to me, my clients were deported within 24 hours of being detained.” Willis claims that both ladies had removal orders issued in their absence, which means that a judge issued a deportation order after they skipped a court hearing about their immigration cases.
