“Three U.S. Citizen Children — Including a Child with Cancer — Deported with Their Mothers, Advocacy Groups Say”

In a case that has drawn outrage from civil rights advocates, immigration attorneys, and lawmakers alike, three U.S. citizen children — including a 4-year-old girl with Stage 4 cancer — were deported from the United States alongside their undocumented mothers. The families were reportedly taken into custody after attending routine immigration check-ins in New Orleans and were swiftly removed to Honduras without access to legal counsel or time to challenge the deportation.

Advocates say the children, all of whom are under the age of 8, were effectively stripped of their constitutional rights as U.S. citizens. They argue that not only are the removals unethical and pose a medical risk, but they are also against federal and international law. The Deportation

Following a standard appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the deportations took place on April 25, 2025. The mothers were enrolled in a program called "Order of Supervision," which allowed them to stay in the country while they tried to change their immigration status through legal means. According to their attorneys, the women and their children were unexpectedly detained at the ICE field office in New Orleans, then transferred to a deportation hub in Alexandria, Louisiana. Within 24 hours, they were aboard a flight to Honduras — a country the U.S. citizen children had never known.

One of those children, a 4-year-old girl battling Stage 4 neuroblastoma, had been receiving treatment at a pediatric hospital in Houston. Her attorney, Melissa Pea, who works for a non-profit immigration legal aid organization, stated, "She missed a scheduled chemotherapy appointment because ICE removed her from the country before we even knew what was happening." “She was literally taken from a country where she had access to life-saving care to a country that lacks the resources to treat her cancer,” Peña said.

A Question of Consent

Department of Homeland Security officials insist the deportations were voluntary in nature. In statements released to media outlets, a spokesperson said, “The mothers chose to take their children with them. As minors, they cannot remain in the United States alone without guardianship or a care plan.”

However, lawyers for the families dispute this narrative. “It wasn’t voluntary. These women were presented with no options,” said Ricardo Menéndez, a lawyer representing one of the mothers. They were never provided with a choice. There is no time for paperwork, hearings, or speaking with attorneys. This was not coercion but consent. The idea that young children — all of them born in the United States and thus U.S. citizens — were removed from their home country under these circumstances has sent shockwaves through the legal and human rights communities.

Legal and Constitutional Implications

The issue of due process is at the heart of the growing backlash. The U.S. Constitution guarantees all citizens — including children — the right to due process before the government deprives them of life, liberty, or property. Legal experts contend that the children were denied the opportunity to challenge their removal in this case. These are citizens of the United States. They have the right to be here, to be safe, and to receive the full protection of our laws,” said Professor Alicia Romero, an immigration law scholar at Georgetown University. When citizens in question are young children who rely on adults and the legal system to safeguard their rights, "what we're seeing is the erosion of those basic protections when they are most vulnerable." A federal judge in Louisiana has scheduled a hearing in early May to determine whether ICE violated the children’s constitutional rights. The Department of Justice has declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

The Case of the Cancer-Affected Child The deportation of the cancer-stricken child has received particular attention. For several months, the girl had been subjected to severe treatment in the United States. Advocacy groups have looked at her medical records and found that she needs chemotherapy, regular scans, and possibly surgery, all of which are things that are hard to get in the small Honduran town where she currently lives. Her pediatric oncologist, Dr. Lila Thompson, described the deportation as “medically reckless.”

Dr. said, "We had a treatment plan that gave this child a real fighting chance." Thompson stated “Removing her from the U.S. in the middle of that plan significantly increases her risk of relapse and potentially death.”

The family's legal team is currently collaborating with doctors and non-profit organizations to find a way to bring the child back to the United States for treatment, but they warn that this will be a difficult task. Revisited Family Separation Though the children in this case were not separated from their mothers, advocates argue that their removal marks a return to policies of family punishment and deterrence. In 2018, the Trump administration came under a lot of scrutiny for separating thousands of children from their parents at the border, a practice that was stopped after public outcry and court intervention. “This is the same cruelty with a new mask,” said Ana Luz García, director of the National Immigration Project. "They're now using deportation to exile U.S. citizen children to dangerous conditions abroad, rather than separating families." According to a recent report from the American Immigration Council, nearly 5 million children of U.S. citizens live in mixed-status households. As a result, if a parent is deported, millions of children run the risk of losing their home country. Political Response

Several members of Congress have spoken out about the deportations. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called the incident “a disgrace to our Constitution and our moral conscience.” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has requested an immediate briefing from ICE officials.

“The idea that a U.S. citizen child with cancer could be removed from the country where she’s receiving life-saving treatment is abhorrent,” Durbin said. "We need to be held accountable and given answers." The Biden administration has yet to comment publicly on the specific case, though officials have reiterated their commitment to upholding the rights of citizen children.

Looking Forward

As public scrutiny intensifies and legal challenges mount, immigrant advocacy groups are calling for a moratorium on any deportation involving U.S. citizen children until a full review of protocols and due process safeguards is completed.

“We cannot allow a situation where a passport means nothing,” said García. "Citizenship must come with rights, especially for our youngest and weakest." In the meantime, three children from the United States, one of whom is critically ill, are currently thousands of miles away from their home country and face an uncertain future. Their lawyers are doing everything in their power to get them home.