Less than two minutes were given to a mother who was set to be deported to talk to her husband about what would happen to her son, a two-year-old American citizen.
Before being deported with her children born in the United States, another woman was denied the opportunity to consult with lawyers or relatives, despite the fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was aware that one of them had Stage 4 cancer.
The deportations of three U.S. citizen children over the weekend, including the 4-year-old boy who was left without access to his cancer medications, are illegal, according to attorneys for the moms and their children who were flown to Honduras, who are slamming Trump administration officials.
They are retaliating against claims made by the families that the children should accompany their mothers.
Tom Homan, the border “czar” for the Trump administration, claimed on Monday that the three American children, all under ten, were put on deportation planes at their moms’ request.
The children “went with their mothers” instead of being deported, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also stated that since they are citizens, they may return if someone in the US “wants to assume them.”
Attorneys, however, have offered information that they claim demonstrates that the moms and their families had little to no opportunity to provide for their children.
They said that ICE’s efforts to assist the families in making plans for the kids were futile.
According to Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, such deportation “are happening with a lot of speed.”
“This is very much a situation that really requires an investigation and some kind of accountability,” Shebaya stated, “because there’s no mystery about what was happening.”
The government is “confident in our process and procedures,” according to an email from Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who also stated that it has evidence proving the parents’ decision to allow the children to accompany them.
“We take our responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to ensure that children are safe and protected,” she stated.
The lawyer representing the mother who was deported with her 2-year-old child, Mich P. González, stated in an interview that the woman was instructed to accompany her children to an immigration check-in, which was rescheduled from the initial date.
“At every single point ICE denied anybody the ability to know where this family was, denied everybody the ability to contact with them and communicate with them,” stated Gracie Willis, a lawyer with the National Immigration Project who represents the 2-year-old.
She added that before an ICE officer hung up on him as he was trying to give her the number of an attorney, the child’s father “barely had any opportunity to speak with the mother about what was best for the child.”
A one-page note produced by ICE claims to have been written by the pregnant mother and demonstrates her permission to the deportation of the 2-year-old. There are redactions in the upper and lower right corners of the Spanish-language note. Along with the time, date, and mother’s name, the note reads, “I will take my daughter [her name] with me to Honduras.”
According to González, ICE is “mischaracterizing that this was her wish, that she willfully consented to this,” according to the co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, an immigration and LGBTQ civil rights cooperative.
“The statement does not show that this was her desire. It doesn’t show that she’s consenting to this. She was just writing down a fact. And after having spoken with her, it’s clear that she was felt forced to do this. She felt absolutely forced to write this,” González stated.
According to the mother of the cancer-stricken child’s lawyers, she, the youngster, and his 7-year-old sister—who is also a U.S. citizen—were transported to Honduras on Friday morning.
Lawyers claim that the mother did not voluntarily take her children with her and that she was unable to communicate with her lawyers or family before they were transported abroad.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, ICE was informed beforehand of the child’s medical requirements.
“She did not sign anything, did not write anything and did not consent to anything expressly. The entire time she was trying very aggressively to speak to her lawyer,” González stated. “As a matter of fact, she was trying to get ahold of a phone to try to call her family and her attorney. But she wasn’t being allowed.”
Read Also: Scott Stringer Slams Cuomo for ‘MIA’ Antisemitism Task Force: ‘Never Lifted a Finger’
Some legal experts caution that in other situations, the deportation of mothers may endanger the safety of children who are citizens of the United States.
According to 52-year-old America lawyer Perez Ramirez in Florida, the DOHS sent a notification instructing her client to check in at an ICE field office and bring tickets for a direct flight to Mexico for her and her 11-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen.
Yoselin, her daughter, suffers from Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a rare genetic condition that can be fatal since it prevents the body from breaking down specific amino acids. The illness claimed the lives of Perez Ramirez’s other two children.
Yoselin has to remain in the United States with her mother in order to manage her MSUD, according to a letter written on her behalf by the girl’s doctor from the University of Florida. Without the attention that she is currently receiving, she would not be able to survive.
Perez Ramirez is involved in a case involving labor trafficking. According to her lawyer, she entered the country on an H2-B visa after being hired by an employer who later took advantage of her and revoked her visa.
Prior administrations recognized the girl’s severe medical condition and granted her four stays of deportation; however, this time, “we couldn’t even file a stay because they said, ‘We’ve given you four of them already, and we’re not giving any more.'”
Since no one else could have ensured her daughter’s medical care, she would have been compelled to take her with her when she was deported.
“She was supposed to leave on Saturday, but the only thing that kept her here was the fact that her daughter’s passport is expired,” stated Bridgette M. Bennett, Perez Ramirez’s attorney.
Bennett is attempting to prevent her deportation by claiming that no one else is available to take care of the girl due to her health.
