ICE Deports American Toddler Without Legal Process

• ICE Deports American Toddler Without Legal Process
• As reported by USA TODAY.
• Here are the details.

A federal judge in Louisiana stated this Friday that he strongly suspects the administration of Donald Trump deported a two-year-old American citizen to Honduras «without meaningful process.»

This case has sparked outrage and concern over possible violations of constitutional rights.

According to court documents, the girl, identified by the initials V.M.L., was born on January 4, 2023, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

She was detained along with her mother and 11-year-old sister on Tuesday, while her mother attended a routine immigration check with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Judge Terry Doughty, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, scheduled a hearing for May 16 in Monroe, stating:

«It is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a U.S. citizen.»

ICE Deports American Toddler Without Legal Process

Judge Claims Trump Deported 2-Year-Old American Citizen with “No Meaningful Process” – Here’s What Really Happened
READ: https://t.co/yfszsxm2xc pic.twitter.com/t6m1t2f2W9
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) April 26, 2025

Judge Doughty, appointed in 2017 by then-President Trump, attempted to contact the mother to confirm whether she truly wished for her daughter to travel with her to Honduras, as the government alleged.

However, he was informed that the mother had already been released in Honduras, making verification impossible.

The legal defense of V.M.L.’s father, who resides in the United States, had warned immigration authorities that his daughter was a U.S. citizen and requested that she be handed over to a guardian willing to care for her within U.S. territory.

Nevertheless, an ICE officer warned that the father would be detained if he attempted to retrieve the child.

Before a temporary restraining order could be processed to prevent the deportation, V.M.L. was expelled from the country along with her mother and sister.

The government submitted a letter signed in Spanish by the girl’s mother, dated Thursday at 6:23 p.m., in which she declared: «I will take my daughter with me to Honduras.» However, Doughty pointed out that at the time of his request to speak with the mother, she was still in U.S. custody, not released.

ACLU Response and Related Cases

Lawyers say that ICE has deported the mother of a baby and a 2-year-old who is a US citizen https://t.co/wNH2DvBMbW

— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) April 26, 2025

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement on Friday, noting that not only V.M.L.

but also two other American citizen children, aged 4 and 7, were deported the same day by ICE’s New Orleans office.

The organization denounced that the children were deported «under deeply troubling circumstances that raise serious due process concerns.»

One of the deported children also suffered from a rare form of metastatic cancer and was sent out of the country without medication or access to his treating physicians, despite ICE being alerted to his fragile medical condition.

Awaiting Answers

So far, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not publicly responded to requests for comments on the case.

Judge Doughty made it clear that the legal proceedings will continue during the May hearing to determine the legality of the government’s actions.

This case has generated outrage among human rights advocates and the legal community.

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