Three children who are citizens of the United States of America (US), including one with cancer, were deported to Honduras with their mothers last week, advocacy groups and family lawyers say, the BBC reports today.
One of the children is a four-year-old with stage four cancer who was sent away without medication, said the lawyer for the child's family.
The US border official, also known as Trump's "border czar", Tom Homan, said that mothers chose to have their children with them.
"Having a child who is a U.S. citizen does not mean you are immune from our laws," he said, adding that the mothers were in the U.S. illegally.
On Friday, New Orleans Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers deported two mothers and three children, ages two, four, and seven, to Honduras from the US state of Louisiana, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The two families — including one pregnant mother — had lived in the U.S. for years and were “deported from the U.S. under deeply troubling circumstances that raise serious due process concerns,” the ACLU said.
One of the children is a U.S. citizen who suffered from metastatic cancer and was deported without the opportunity to consult with doctors, the advocacy group claims.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference this morning, Homan said deporting families together is better than separating them.
"We keep families together. What we've done is we've removed children with their mothers who have requested that the children go with them. There is a parental decision," Homan said.
Homan rejected the use of the word "deported" to describe the removal of children from the country.
"They were not deported. We do not deport American citizens. Their parents made that decision, not the US government," he said.
Last week, a federal judge said he had "strong suspicions" that one of the children deported to Honduras, a two-year-old citizen, was sent "without meaningful process."
The Louisiana-born child and his family members were arrested during a routine meeting at an immigration office in New Orleans on April 22, court documents state.
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