In a scathing statement on Friday, U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty said that the Trump administration appeared to have deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen “with no meaningful process.” The child, referred to as “V.M.L.” in court documents, was reportedly deported to Honduras alongside her mother, prompting urgent legal action from the child’s father seeking her return to the United States.
Judge Doughty emphasized that it is both illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend the deportation of an American citizen. He scheduled a hearing for May 19, noting the “strong suspicion” that the government had indeed deported a U.S. citizen without following due legal procedures.
The controversy arose after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended V.M.L., her mother Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, and an older sibling during Villela’s routine appointment at ICE’s New Orleans office. According to Trish Mack, a designated custodian acting on the father’s behalf, the child’s father overheard Villela and the children crying during a phone call and urgently reminded her that their daughter was a U.S. citizen and could not legally be deported.
Prosecutors, however, argued that Villela, who holds legal custody of V.M.L., had voluntarily chosen to take her daughter with her to Honduras. They further stated that the man claiming to be V.M.L.’s father had failed to appear before ICE despite being asked to do so. In their filing, Trump administration officials claimed that it was in the child’s “best interest” to remain with her mother and assured that V.M.L., as a U.S. citizen, was not barred from reentering the United States.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Justice Department immediately commented on the situation.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) harshly criticized the deportation, calling it a “shocking abuse of power.” The ACLU emphasized that ICE’s own protocols require coordination for the care of minor children with willing guardians — regardless of immigration status — prior to carrying out deportations.
Adding to concerns, President Trump had recently stated that he wanted to deport certain violent criminals, even U.S. citizens, to El Salvadoran prisons. This proposal alarmed civil rights groups and constitutional scholars alike, who view such actions as profoundly unconstitutional.
Further underscoring the administration’s immigration challenges, the Supreme Court recently ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who had been deported to El Salvador in March despite a court order protecting him from removal.
