Another Deportation Blunder Hurts Trump

The Trump administration is facing new scrutiny after a federal judge revealed that a 2-year-old U.S. citizen appears to have been deported without any meaningful legal process. U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty said on Friday that the child, referred to as “V.M.L.” in court documents, was deported along with her mother, raising serious constitutional concerns.

“It is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a U.S. citizen,” Doughty said. He scheduled a hearing for May 19 to investigate what he described as a strong suspicion that the government unlawfully deported a U.S. citizen.

According to filings, V.M.L. was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a routine appointment her mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, attended in New Orleans. Villela and her two daughters, including V.M.L., were taken into custody. Trish Mack, acting on behalf of the child’s father, stated that when he briefly spoke to Villela during detention, he heard both the mother and children crying and reminded her that their daughter was a U.S. citizen and could not legally be deported.

Prosecutors argued that Villela, who has legal custody, chose to have her daughter accompany her to Honduras. They also pointed out that the man claiming to be the father had not presented himself to ICE when requested. In a filing, Trump administration officials asserted that it was in V.M.L.’s “best interest” to remain with her mother and insisted that the child was not at risk because, as a citizen, she could theoretically return to the U.S. at any time.

Despite those claims, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department have not responded to inquiries about the case, deepening public concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union called V.M.L.’s deportation a “shocking abuse of power,” pointing out that it violated ICE’s own protocols requiring coordination with willing caretakers for minor children during deportations.

This controversy comes at a politically sensitive time for President Trump, whose approval ratings have already been slipping amid mounting backlash over his immigration policies. Trump’s recent remarks about deporting even violent U.S. citizens to prisons in El Salvador sparked alarm among civil rights advocates and constitutional scholars, and cases like V.M.L.’s only add fuel to the fire.

The fallout from this incident is further damaging Trump’s image, painting a picture of an administration willing to trample constitutional protections in the name of tough immigration enforcement. As his popularity continues to erode, critics argue that missteps like these are leaving Trump increasingly isolated both politically and legally.