(NewsNation) — The Trump administration has deported three children under the age of 10 — all American-born citizens — alongside their mothers who were in the United States illegally, according to lawyers and advocacy groups.
The American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Project and other groups described the cases as a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.” However, the White House has defended the move and fought back against claims of denying the mothers and children their due process.
One of the Honduran-born mothers was removed with two children, a 4- and 7-year-old, while another case involved a mother and her 2-year-old.
The American children were detained while accompanying their mothers to appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Associated Press reporting.
Family attorneys have raised questions about whether proper deportation procedures were followed in these cases, particularly because of the speed of the removals.
The 4- and 7-year-old siblings were deported to Honduras within a day of being detained with their mother, Gracie Willis of the National Immigration Project said.
The younger of the pair has a rare form of cancer and may now be unable to access medicine or speak with their doctors, according to Willis.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., slammed the move on social media: “This is unlawful, inhumane, and a direct attack on the basic due process rights guaranteed to all people, citizens and non-citizens alike, under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”
“The Trump administration is disappearing families in the dead of night, and if we don’t stop them, it will only get worse,” Nadler’s post continued.
Willis said the mothers did not have a fair opportunity to decide whether they wanted the children to stay in the United States.
“We have no idea what ICE was telling them, and in this case, what has come to light is that ICE didn’t give them another alternative,” Willis said in an interview, the AP reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the mothers wanted their children to be removed with them, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, “The children went with their mothers. Those children are U.S. citizens, they can come back into the United States if their father or someone here wants to ultimately assume them.”
Ron Vitiello, senior adviser for Customs and Border Protection, echoed that sentiment on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” on Monday.
“These kids were not deported, and they happened to be U.S. citizens living in the United States. That parent elected to take those children with her on her deportation flight to Honduras … They were not deported,” Vitiello said.
A judge scheduled a hearing next month on the case of the 2-year-old to examine ICE’s handling of the deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security contends the mother wanted to bring her young child with her, but the girl’s father says otherwise.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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