NEW ORLEANS — In the early morning hours of Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported at least two families from Louisiana, including three U.S. citizen children and a pregnant mother, according to a press release issued by a coalition of immigrant rights organizations.
The deportations were carried out under what advocates describe as deeply troubling circumstances, including the detention of the families incommunicado and denial of legal access during critical periods. ICE detained the first family on April 22 and the second on April 24. In both cases, multiple attempts by attorneys and family members to contact the detainees were unsuccessful.
In one instance, a mother was allowed less than one minute on the phone before the call was cut off when her spouse attempted to provide a legal counsel’s contact information. According to the release, ICE’s actions isolated the families at a time when decisions were being made regarding the care of their minor children, violating ICE’s own internal directives requiring coordination with caretakers during deportations involving minors.
Both families reportedly had potential immigration relief available but were denied access to legal assistance before their deportations. In one case, government attorneys had agreed to arrange legal calls within 24 to 48 hours but reversed course after close of business, informing counsel that the family would be deported early the next morning—before courts reopened. A habeas corpus petition and emergency motion for a temporary restraining order were filed on their behalf but not ruled on before the deportation occurred.
The deportations included a U.S. citizen child suffering from a rare form of metastatic cancer, who was removed without medication or consultation with treating physicians, despite ICE being made aware of the child’s medical condition. A pregnant woman was also deported without assurances of prenatal care or medical oversight, the coalition stated.
“These actions show a blatant violation of due process and basic human rights,” said Teresa Reyes-Flores of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition (SEDND). “The families were disappeared, cut off from their lawyers and loved ones, and rushed to be deported, stripping their parents of the chance to protect their U.S. citizen children.”
Gracie Willis of the National Immigration Project described the events as “horrifying and baffling,” emphasizing that the families were not allowed to make decisions about their children’s care. “We should be gravely concerned that ICE has been given tacit approval to both detain and deport U.S. citizen children despite the availability and willingness of U.S.-based caregivers who, only because of ICE’s own actions, cannot find or contact them,” Willis said.
Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, condemned the operation. “Once again, the government has used deceptive tactics to deny people their rights. These outrageous actions must be condemned. We as a nation are better than this. These families deserve better. They must be returned,” Odoms said.
Fatima Khan of the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants (LORI) said ICE’s conduct went beyond the typical treatment of detainees in the state. “They ignored their own protocols on legal access ad protecting children’s rights to enact an expedient deportation they know to be unlawful,” Khan said.
Other advocates echoed the alarm. Erin Hebert of Ware Immigration called the deportation of U.S. citizen children “illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral,” and Homero López Jr. of Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA) warned that ICE’s actions resemble the darkest chapters in U.S. history. Mich P. Gonzalez of Sanctuary of the South argued that the agency should be defunded rather than expanded, noting that the families involved had been complying with ICE’s orders.
“These families were lawfully complying with ICE’s orders and for this they suffered cruel and traumatic separation,” Gonzalez said. “If this is what the Trump administration is orchestrating just three months in, we should all be terrified of what the next four years will bring.”
Returning people who are established is cruel.
Allowing an atmosphere of mass illegal border crossings is cruel.
Do better, both parties. You all suck.