The Trump administration appeared to deport two-year-old US citizens “without any meaningful processes,” a federal judge said Friday that the father of the child tried to return her to the United States.
US District Judge Terry A. Doughty said the girl, known in court documents as “VML,” was deported by her mother.
“It is illegal and unconstitutional to recommend deportation, detention for deportation, or deportation of US citizens,” Dhoty said.
He said on May 19th, “We have scheduled a hearing to dispel our strong suspicion that the government simply deported US citizens without a meaningful process.
VML was arrested Tuesday for US immigration and customs enforcement along with her mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villera and her sister.
According to Mac, when VML’s father spoke to Vilella temporarily, he was able to hear her and her children crying. Meanwhile, court documents say he reminded her that her daughter was a US citizen and “cannot deport her.”
However, prosecutors told ICE that Villera, who has legal custody, said she wanted to retain custody of the girl and go to Honduras with her. They said the man who claims to be VML’s father had not presented himself to the ice despite demanding that he do so.
“Therefore, it is VML’s greatest interest that she maintains legal custody of her mother,” Trump administration officials said in a filing Friday. “And because VML is a US citizen, there is no risk of irreparable harm.”
VML is not banned from entering the United States, prosecutors added.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union described another similar case to the VML case – “Shocking… Power abuse.”
“These actions directly violate Ice’s own written and informal directives, which mandates coordination of care for minor children with aspiring caregivers, regardless of immigrant status,” he said.
President Donald Trump, whose presidential campaign focuses on immigration, said earlier this month that he wanted to deport violent criminals from prisons in El Salvador, a US citizen.
The comments wary of civil rights advocates and raised concerns about proposals deemed unconstitutional by many jurists.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration, which has already deported hundreds of people to El Salvador, to “promote and influence” the return of Maryland resident Kilmer Abrego Garcia.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published by Syndicate Feed.)
