Attorneys are going after the Trump administration for "forcibly" deporting mothers and their U.S.-born children, while putting their families at risk of being publicly identified, Rolling Stone reported Wednesday.
The article comes after "three U.S. citizen children" — one of whom has metastatic cancer — "were illegally removed from Louisiana and flown to Honduras last Friday," along with their mothers.
The Trump administration continues to claim that the mothers "wanted to take their children with them," but the deported families’ attorneys "vehemently" deny the claim, Rolling Stone reported.
In response to public outcry that small children were denied their U.S. citizenship and torn from their American families, the Department of Homeland Security posted a “Fact Check” document online, "identifying the mothers who were deported," according to Rolling Stone.
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Mich Gonzalez, one of the families' attorneys, warned, “By naming these families publicly, DHS isn’t just trying to deflect rightful blame – it’s exposing these families to real danger."
Gonzalez continued that the families are "still navigating how to seek medical care to address the impacts to their physical and mental health following this ordeal," and said "the impact of the event itself and the ensuing aftermath has the families fearing for their safety."
Gonzales recalled for the article how he followed the children's flight leave using a flight tracking app.
“This is one that will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said. “It was really hard to see in real time that plane moving across my phone, leaving this country with those babies on it, knowing full well that their mothers were coerced into being deported with them and were not given an opportunity to speak to their legal counsel.”
As the attorneys consider their next steps, the National Lawyers Guild put out a statement: “This is not just a violation of trust; it is a reckless act that puts real lives at risk and underlines the lack of concern for the safety and welfare of these children and their families….The mothers were forcibly deported, and their U.S. citizen children were taken with them under duress. No safe or practical alternative was provided to allow the children to remain in their country of birth.”