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Two US citizen children — a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old suffering from metastatic cancer — were deported with their mother to Honduras on Friday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the mother’s attorney and civil rights and immigration advocacy organizations.
The mother was detained after she took her two children with her to a check-in Thursday with immigration authorities for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, the attorney, Erin Hebert, told CNN today. According to Hebert, the mother was asked to bring her two children and their passports to the appointment.
On their arrival, however, Hebert said she was not allowed to accompany the family to the meeting. A short time later, Hebert was informed the family had been arrested, but officials refused to tell her where they were taken.
Hebert later learned after speaking with her client that two ICE officers were waiting for the family at the appointment, she told CNN.
The attorney contacted officials with ICE’s New Orleans field office and filed a stay of removal in an effort to keep the family in the country, she said. But by Friday morning, the family had been placed on a plane to Honduras.
“My clients were deported within 24 hours of being detained with no access to me,” Hebert said.
The case closely echoes that of another family: A woman and her 2-year-old were also deported last Friday after attending a “routine check-in,” according to an emergency court filing.
Taken together, advocates say the cases underscore a lack of due process in the ongoing immigration crackdown.
Top Trump administration officials defended deportations involving parents and young children in TV appearances this morning, saying US citizen children were not deported, but parents who were in the country illegally could choose to take their kids with them when deported.