TOI correspondent from Washington: America’s liberal conscience is being shaken this weekend by the deportation on Friday of three US-born citizens, children of immigrant parents, including a two-year old baby and four-year old child with stage-4 metastatic cancer.
The family’s parents, who were undocumented, were being deported to their native Colombia, according to US officials, who decided to bring them along. However, a judge appointed by Trump found the procedure to be unclear and said it appeared to be no significant deportation process. He described the action as “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The two parents were detained while the two parents were undergoing an immigration procedure, according to the people ‘ attorneys, who were accompanied by them during a regular check-in in New Orleans.
In one instance, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, the mother of the two-year-old woman and her older girl, is said to have handwritten the Spanish notes explaining that she chose to bring them with her even though the children’s parents, whose immigration status is unknown, was on the phone with her to tell her that their younger daughter was a US citizen and not subject to deportation. He was stopped as he was about to offer her contact info for professionals.
In the other instance, a 4-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancers was deported without access to medical care or the ability to get in touch with doctors, according to the mother’s attorney. According to her parents ‘ illegal status, the Trump presidency prosecuted her in the second case after a 10-year-old US resident with brain tumor was deported to Mexico on February 4 while en route to a medical visit.
When they were detained at a Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) checkpoint in South Texas, the family was traveling from Rio Grande City, Texas, to Houston for an urgent medical checkup for the girl who had had brain surgery in 2024 to remove a tumor.
The Trump administration asserts that the country does not evict citizens, but they may choose to follow family members who are deported, and that family members who are deported may bring their children with them as part of a policy to prevent families from splitting up. From a MAGA perception, Trump didn’t arrest a two-year-old American citizen. A fresh child’s mother wanted her daughter to accompany her, so the US provided complimentary transportation for her.
However, civil rights activists and lawyers claim that the people are being forced to leave the land without due process. US District Judge Terry Doughty appeared to be in agreement with them in the New Orleans situation. Perhaps a Trump-appointee judge reportedly irked the two mothers and their children by making them try to arrange legal representation, driving them to the aircraft, and boarding a flight to Honduras.
The state asserts that all of this is acceptable because the mother wishes that the kid be taken to a deportation along with her. However, the Court is unaware of this, according to Judge Doughty, who noted that he was unable to confirm the family’s consent for the child to travel with her prior to the imprisonment.
The event highlighted growing unease in the nation as a result of the Trump president’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, as well as on green cards and visa holders, including foreign students, as well as a clampdown on judges, two of whom have been detained for allegedly obstructing the deportation of illegal immigrants.
In some cases, police homeland security personnel have been detained immigrants without permits, with supporters citing security concerns. The new Trump administration’s policies include repealing the Alien Enemies Act and lifting Biden-era restrictions on arrests in sympathetic locations like hospitals.
