NEW ORLEANS, LA – The ACLU of Louisiana has reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported two families this week, including three U.S. citizen children—ages 2, 4, and 7—and a pregnant mother. According to the organization, ICE held the families incommunicado, denying them access to legal counsel during critical decision-making moments.
In one case, a U.S. citizen child suffering from metastatic cancer was deported without essential medication or consultation with medical professionals, despite ICE being informed of the child’s urgent health needs. The ACLU also reports that one of the deported mothers was pregnant and removed without any plan for prenatal care.
Legal advocates have strongly condemned the agency’s actions. Teresa Reyes-Flores of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition called ICE’s conduct a “blatant violation of due process and basic human rights.” Gracie Willis of the National Immigration Project described the deportations as “horrifying and baffling,” emphasizing that the mothers were denied the right to make medical and legal decisions for their children.
Both families reportedly had potential avenues for immigration relief but were deported before they could access legal counsel. According to the ACLU, government attorneys had previously agreed to allow legal calls prior to deportation. However, ICE abruptly reversed course, deporting one family early the next morning—before the courts reopened.
Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, denounced the actions as “outrageous” and demanded that the families be returned immediately. Fatima Khan of the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants accused ICE of knowingly violating its own protocols to avoid judicial oversight.
Erin Hebert of Ware Immigration called the deportation of U.S. citizen children “illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral,” while Homero López Jr. of ISLA (Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy) compared ICE’s conduct to forced disappearances from some of the darkest chapters of U.S. history.
Mich P. Gonzalez of Sanctuary of the South issued a stark warning: “If this is the reality just three months into the Trump administration, we should all be terrified of what the next four years will bring.”
The original report from the ACLU of Louisiana can be found [here], offering additional details and firsthand accounts.
