And a number of other affiliated organizations called the deportation of U.S.-citizen children and their mothers by ICE a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.”
At the very least, the moms were not given a fair chance to determine whether they wanted the children to remain in the United States, according to Gracie Willis of the National Immigration Project.
In an interview, Willis stated, “We don’t know what ICE was telling them, and in this case, what has come to light is that ICE didn’t give them another alternative.”
“They didn’t give them a choice; even though there were caring caregivers in the United States who could have kept their children here, these mothers only had the option to take them with them.”
Within a day of their arrest alongside their mother, the 4-year-old, who has a rare kind of cancer, and the 7-year-old were deported to Honduras, according to Willis.
A federal judge in Louisiana questioned the girl’s deportation in the case involving the 2-year-old, stating that the government had not provided sufficient evidence to support its claim.
