Trump Administration Faces Backlash Over Deportation of U.S. Citizen Children
The Trump administration is under fire as immigration advocacy groups report that U.S. citizen children were deported alongside their undocumented mothers—sparking fresh debate over the handling of family separations and due process.
On Sunday, senior administration officials defended the deportations, insisting that it was the mothers, not the children, who were deported. Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan appeared on national television to push back against the growing criticism.
Rubio, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” argued that the deportations were lawful, noting that “the children went with their mothers,” and that those children, being U.S. citizens, are free to return to the country if a father or another guardian steps forward. “If someone is in this country illegally, that person gets deported,” Rubio said. “If that person has a 2-year-old U.S. citizen child, they have the option to take that child with them—or leave them behind.”
Tom Homan echoed Rubio’s defense on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” stating flatly, “Children aren’t deported.” Homan emphasized that the mothers made the decision to bring their children along and argued that they had been given proper legal process at taxpayer expense.
However, immigrant rights organizations tell a very different story.
The National Immigration Project reported Friday that at least two families, including U.S. citizen children aged 2, 4, and 7, were deported from the New Orleans ICE Field Office to Honduras. One of the children reportedly has a rare and aggressive cancer and was sent back without critical medication or consultation with doctors.
Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, called the administration’s statements “willfully misleading.” In a statement, Shebaya said that ICE was fully aware that legal custodians were available in the United States to care for the children, yet officials still forced deportations without offering the mothers alternatives. She alleged that attorneys and family members were denied opportunities to communicate with the detained mothers, leaving them isolated and unable to make arrangements for their children’s welfare.
“This was not an accident,” Shebaya said. “It was a deliberate act of separating families without due process.”
A federal judge appointed during Trump’s first term also raised serious concerns, saying that a 2-year-old citizen was sent to Honduras “with no meaningful process,” highlighting what many critics see as a blatant violation of constitutional rights.
The controversy comes at a time when immigration remains one of President Trump’s most polarizing policy areas. Advocates warn that deporting U.S. citizen children could backfire politically, alienating moderate voters and further damaging Trump’s standing with suburban families—a key demographic heading into the next election cycle.
Despite the administration’s attempts to reframe the narrative, immigration advocates insist that real reform is needed to protect vulnerable children and uphold the principles of due process.
As debate intensifies, Americans are left grappling with tough questions: Where should the line be drawn on immigration enforcement—and who pays the price when that line is crossed?