Judge Raises Alarm After U.S. Citizen Toddler Deported to Honduras Without "Meaningful Process"

Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA

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Image Source: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

A federal judge sharply criticized the Trump administration Friday after a two-year-old U.S. citizen was deported to Honduras alongside her mother and sister, without what the judge described as any "meaningful process" to safeguard her rights.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, said the child identified in court documents by the initials V.M.L. appeared to have been released in Honduras earlier that day, despite ongoing legal efforts by her father to prevent her deportation. The child, born in New Orleans in 2023, had been detained along with her Honduran-born mother and sister during a routine immigration check-in at the New Orleans office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday.

The judge scheduled a hearing for May 16 to address what he described as a “strong suspicion” that the government deported a U.S. citizen child without following proper legal procedures.

“The Government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,” Doughty wrote. “But the Court doesn’t know that.”

The Trump administration argued in court filings that the mother voluntarily chose to take V.M.L. with her to Honduras, citing a handwritten Spanish note purportedly from the mother. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the administration’s actions, stating that ICE routinely asks parents whether they wish to have their children accompany them during deportation.

“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,” McLaughlin said.

However, the child's father, through lawyers, disputed that there was meaningful communication or consent. An emergency petition was filed Thursday seeking V.M.L.'s release from ICE custody and requesting a declaration that her detention and deportation were unlawful. The father reportedly had only a brief one-minute conversation with the mother while she was detained, which lawyers argued was insufficient to make informed decisions about their daughter.

Judge Doughty, recognizing the urgency, attempted to independently verify the facts on Friday. However, before further action could be taken, ICE officials informed the court that the mother and children had already been released in Honduras.

The case highlights growing concerns among legal experts and judges that the Trump administration’s expedited deportation efforts may be violating due process rights even in the cases involving U.S. citizens. It comes amid broader scrutiny over immigration enforcement tactics and their impact on families.

Doughty’s criticism was particularly notable given his previous rulings favoring conservative causes, including decisions against Biden administration policies on social media content moderation.

In his order, Doughty also referred to the body of water over which the deportation flight traveled as the "Gulf of America" a term aligned with language sometimes favored by Trump allies, but traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite the administration’s defense, the case of V.M.L. now sets the stage for a legal battle over the rights of U.S. citizen children caught up in immigration enforcement against their non-citizen parents. Legal experts say V.M.L. is likely entitled to return to the United States, but the deportation itself raises serious constitutional questions that the court will address in the coming weeks.