A Venezuelan migrant arrives after being deported from the United States, at Simon Bolivar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, April 3, 2025. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
Attorneys for families being ripped apart by President Donald Trump's deportations are claiming the removals of three U.S. citizen children are illegal, reported NBC News on Monday evening — and even include a child with stage 4 cancer.
Furthermore, the lawyers assert, the administration is lying about the circumstances under which they were deported.
"On Monday, Trump administration border 'czar' Tom Homan said the three U.S. citizen children, all under 10 years old, were placed on deportation flights at their mothers’ request. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the children weren’t deported but 'went with their mothers,' adding that as citizens they could come back if there's someone in the United States who 'wants to assume them,'" reported Suzanne Gamboa, Carmen Sesin, and Julia Ainsley.
But according to the lawyers, their families weren't given a choice, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stalled their efforts to make arrangements for the children, ensuring they would be sent away with their mothers.
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Per the report, "One mother who was about to be deported was allowed less than two minutes on the phone with her husband to figure out what would become of her 2-year-old U.S. citizen son," while one of the other mothers "wasn’t allowed to speak with attorneys or family members before she was deported, accompanied by her U.S.-born children," despite ICE agents knowing the child had stage 4 cancer.
Trump's mass deportation efforts, which are often allegedly designed to circumvent due process or judicial review, have become a national flashpoint of tensions as voters sour on Trump's agenda.
One of the most prominent is the case of Maryland family man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to an infamous Salvadoran megaprison despite a protective order barring his removal to that country. Multiple courts have ordered Trump to "facilitate" his return, but the administration asserts they cannot order a foreign leader to hand over a prisoner from their soil.