ICE deports immigrant mothers and US citizen children in controversial crackdown

HARRISBURG, Pa. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers deported several immigrant mothers and their young U.S. citizen children this week, drawing sharp criticism from civil rights groups and raising questions about the scope of the immigration crackdown.

Lawyers said ICE deported the Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl and three Honduran-born mothers with children aged 2, 4, and 7.

The children, all U.S. citizens, were deported alongside their mothers with little opportunity for legal review, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Project, and other advocacy groups.

Gracie Willis of the National Immigration Project said ICE failed to offer the mothers a real choice to leave their children behind with willing U.S. guardians. "They didn’t give them another alternative," Willis said.

Two of the children deported to Honduras included a 4-year-old battling cancer and a 7-year-old. In one Louisiana case involving a 2-year-old girl, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty questioned whether ICE lawfully deported a U.S. citizen child without due process. He scheduled a hearing for May 16 to investigate further.

The girl’s father, who lives in Baton Rouge, had sought to keep his daughter in the U.S., while ICE claimed the mother wanted the girl deported with her to Honduras. Doughty noted the government failed to prove its case before the deportation was executed.

Separately, in Tampa, Florida, ICE deported Heidy Sánchez, a Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old who suffers from seizures. Sánchez, who was still breastfeeding her daughter, was detained during a routine ICE check-in and deported to Cuba two days later, according to her lawyer Claudia Cañizares.

Cañizares said ICE refused to accept legal filings to contest the deportation and argued Sánchez had a strong humanitarian case to remain in the United States. She accused ICE of prioritizing daily deportation targets over individual circumstances.

Sánchez’s deportation stems from a missed 2019 court hearing, after which she was detained for nine months. Following her release in 2020, she had been complying with scheduled ICE check-ins, her lawyer said. — Agencies