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The Hits Keep on Comin': 2-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Deported Without Due Process [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-26
This one’s a doozy:
A federal judge stated Friday that there is a “strong suspicion” the U.S. government deported a two-year-old American citizen to Honduras "with no meaningful process" or any real opportunity for review.
The child, identified in court filings as "V.M.L.," was detained earlier this week during a routine immigration check-in in New Orleans alongside her undocumented mother and sister. Despite knowing she was a U.S. citizen, ICE officials removed her alongside her undocumented mother before a court could intervene.
Court filings show that ICE informed the father he could attempt to pick up the child but warned he would be detained if he did so. An attorney representing a family friend, who had provisional custody of the child, filed for an emergency restraining order seeking her immediate release. Before the court could rule, V.M.L., her mother, and sister were deported to Honduras early the next morning.
Justice Department attorneys responded by arguing the child was not facing “irreparable harm” since she was a citizen and not barred from returning to the U.S. They maintained it was in the child's best interest to remain with her mother.
In an April 25 order, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty expressed “concern”, noting he was unable to verify the mother's wishes before deportation because she had already been released in Honduras. He scheduled a hearing for May 16 in "the interest of dispelling our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."
The ACLU reported that two other U.S. citizen children were also deported under similar circumstances, but different cases, "under deeply troubling circumstances that raise serious due process concerns."
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