A federal judge expressed concern on Friday after attorneys claimed that the Trump administration expelled a two-year-old American citizen without a “meaningful process.”
The father of the toddler filed a petition for release after the child was deported alongside his mother and sister to Honduras, where it was wrongly determined they were living unlawfully.
US District Judge Terry Dauty, appointed by President Trump, confirmed that the child was sent back to a Central American country with family.
“We had planned a hearing on the matter for May 16th in Louisiana to dispel our strong belief that the government had simply expelled US citizens without due process,” Doughty stated.
An official from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) claimed in court that the mother had informed the agent she wanted her child detained. The Trump administration included a note clearly written in Spanish by the mother, but the judge stated that it needed verification, according to reports.
“The government insists this is acceptable because the mother wishes for the child to be deported with her, but the courts cannot ascertain that,” Doughty noted in a legal filing.
He further indicated that the court conversed with the administrative advisor and attempted to contact the child’s mother as referenced in the Initial VML, but it was ineffective, as officials stated they had been released in Honduras.
This event follows multiple instances of incorrect deportations of legal residents by ICE as part of the president’s extensive immigration agenda. Recently, the Trump administration faced backlash for the erroneous deportation of Kilmer Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
The White House, ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security did not promptly respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
