Controversial Deportation: US Citizen Children Sent to Honduras Amid Cancer Battle

Advocacy groups express outrage over the deportation of three US citizen children, including a four-year-old with cancer, stating it lacked necessary medical considerations and due process, contrary to government assertions.

Three young children, all US citizens—one of whom is battling Stage 4 cancer—were forcibly deported to Honduras alongside their mothers last week, according to reports from advocacy groups and family lawyers. The child's attorney revealed that the four-year-old was sent without essential medication. Tom Homan, the border czar under former President Trump, asserted that the parents chose to leave the U.S. with their children, insisting that having US citizen children does not exempt individuals from immigration laws.

During Trump’s presidency, his administration faced criticism for separating thousands of children from their parents. On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in New Orleans deported the mothers and their three children, aged two, four, and seven, back to Honduras, as indicated by the ACLU's statement. The two families had lived in the U.S. for several years under complex circumstances that, according to the ACLU, raised significant concerns regarding due process.

One of the deported children was a two-year-old with citizenship who, according to a federal judge, may have been removed without receiving adequate legal process. This child and her family were apprehended at a New Orleans immigration office earlier this year. In interviews, Homan contended that deporting families together is preferable to separation, framing the situation as a parental choice rather than an act of deportation. He emphasized that U.S. citizens are not deported and defended the government's actions as following due process.

Legal proceedings are scheduled for 19 May to review whether the families were granted the necessary due process rights during the deportation. The second family was detained shortly after the first, and ICE allegedly ignored calls from attorneys and family members regarding their whereabouts. In a recent press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted the administration’s commitment to immigration enforcement during its initial 100 days, which includes new executive orders aimed at identifying "sanctuary cities" that provide limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Further complicating matters, recent immigration raids—such as one at an underground club in Colorado Springs—resulted in over 100 undocumented immigrants being detained. Amidst these developments, many are questioning the implications and morality of current immigration policies, especially concerning vulnerable populations like children with serious health conditions.