A federal investigation has been opened after a two-year-old girl, a U.S. citizen, was deported to Honduras along with her mother without apparently undergoing an adequate legal process.
The case involves a minor identified as VML, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 4, 2023. The girl was deported on Friday along with her mother, who is of Honduran nationality and had received a deportation order, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
The situation prompted an immediate response from Judge Terry Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, who scheduled a hearing for May 16 to clarify what happened.
"The Government maintains that everything is fine because the mother wishes for the girl to be deported with her. But the Court is unaware of this," wrote Doughty in his order.
According to the report, the mother and her two daughters, including VML, were arrested last Tuesday in New Orleans while attending a scheduled appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The mother had been participating in an intensive supervision program since her release from a detention center in 2021.
The father of VML, who resides in the United States, had requested custody of the girl and asked that she be placed under the care of a guardian available in the country. However, before the court could intervene, the minor had already been deported.
The government argues that the mother had legal custody of the girl and that, through a handwritten letter in Spanish, she expressed her desire to take her daughter to Honduras. However, the letter was signed while both were in ICE custody, just hours before the flight.
Defender organizations for immigration rights, such as the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, reported that the deportation violated the Constitution and VML's rights as a U.S. citizen.
Until now, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE have not issued official comments on the case, as criticisms of the current immigration protocols continue to grow.
This new case adds to a series of wrongful deportations that have occurred in the United States since Donald Trump's return to the presidency, along with his "zero tolerance" policy that has tightened immigration controls and led to mass family separations, increasing the risks that American citizens could be wrongfully expelled from the country.
A recent example is that of José Hermosillo, a 19-year-old young man and U.S. citizen, who was detained in Arizona in April 2025.
Hermosillo, who had forgotten his identification documents while visiting family, was arrested on suspicion of being an irregular Mexican migrant and remained in custody for 10 days until his family could prove his citizenship.
Another alarming case is that of Kilmar Ábrego García, a legal resident from El Salvador in Maryland since 2011, deported by mistake to El Salvador despite having a court order prohibiting his expulsion. He is currently detained in a maximum-security prison, while his return to the U.S. is on hold following an appeal by the U.S. government.
Furthermore, Heydi Sánchez Tejeda, a Cuban mother, was recently deported from Tampa, Florida, leaving her nursing daughter of just one year old in the care of her American husband. Sánchez, who had applied to regularize her immigration status, was repatriated to Cuba despite having strictly adhered to the conditions imposed by ICE and having an ongoing immigration process pending.
Frequently asked questions about the deportation of U.S. citizens
Why was an American girl deported to Honduras?
The girl, identified as VML and a U.S. citizen born in Louisiana, was deported along with her Honduran mother due to a deportation order against the mother. However, the deportation of the minor apparently took place without proper legal proceedings, leading to the initiation of a federal investigation.
What is Judge Terry Doughty's stance on this deportation case?
The judge Terry Doughty expressed a strong suspicion that the deportation was carried out without a meaningful process and has scheduled a hearing for May 16 to clarify what happened. He emphasized that the court is not certain that the mother truly wanted her daughter to be deported with her.
How has the community and human rights organizations reacted to this deportation?
Organizations advocating for migrant rights, such as the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, have reported that the deportation violated the Constitution and VML's rights as a U.S. citizen. This situation has sparked criticism of current immigration protocols.
What other recent cases of wrongful deportations have been reported in the United States?
In addition to the VML case, other incidents have been reported, such as that of José Hermosillo, an American citizen detained in Arizona, and Kilmar Ábrego García, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. These situations reflect a troubling pattern of erroneous deportations under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which has tightened immigration controls.
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