• Three U.S. citizen children, including one with Stage 4 cancer, were deported to Honduras.
• Border czar Tom Homan insists mothers chose to take their children with them, claiming due process was followed.
• A federal judge raised concerns about the legality of the deportations and the process involved.

A 4-year-old and a 7-year-old who are U.S. citizens were deported to Honduras alongside their mother last week, along with a 2-year-old girl and her family, according to their lawyers. Advocacy groups have condemned these actions, as the children were reportedly removed from the country without their medications or proper legal process. The American Civil Liberties Union emphasized that the deportation of the children raises serious concerns about due process during a time when the Trump administration is intensifying its immigration enforcement efforts, which includes rapid deportations from the United States, according to The New York Times and BBC News.

Border czar Tom Homan defended the deportations, asserting that “having a U.S. citizen child does not make you immune from our laws.” He contended that the mothers of the children voluntarily chose to be deported with their children. “The two-year-old went with the mom. The mom signed the paper saying, ‘I want my two-year-old to go with me,’” Homan stated, downplaying the situation and labeling it as a simple parental choice, according to India Times and CBS News.

Despite Homan's claims, a federal judge, Terry Doughty, expressed “strong suspicion” that the deportation lacked meaningful process. Doughty suggested that the court's attempts to arrange communication with the mother were thwarted by Justice Department lawyers, indicating potential neglect of legal protocols. Homan rebuffed the concerns, insisting that the deportation was lawful and that the mothers had received the necessary hearings, sparking further debate about the treatment of families under the current administration, as reported by The New York Times, India Times, and CBS News.

In response to these controversial deportations, advocacy groups have voiced strong opposition, citing that one American child deported was in a critical health condition and lacked access to necessary medical treatments. Legal representatives argued this exemplified the troubling consequences of the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies. The ACLU condemned the denial of proper legal process in these cases, scrutinizing the treatment of families during deportation proceedings, as highlighted by BBC News and India Times.