SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — In the Middle District of Louisiana, a lawsuit has been initiated against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging the unlawful deportation of three American children, one of whom is a 4-year-old with advanced kidney cancer.
The legal claim states that these deportations occurred in April along with their non-citizen parents, lacking due process, parental permission, or access to legal representation.
Filed Thursday by several plaintiffs using pseudonyms for privacy, the 39-page lawsuit alleges that in Louisiana, ICE agents detained the families during regular immigration check-ins, restricted their communication with attorneys and relatives, and subsequently deported both the children and adults to Honduras.
ICE is charged with deporting one of the youngsters, a 4-year-old receiving crucial cancer treatment at New Orleans Children’s Hospital, “resulting in a deprivation of medical care for several weeks.”
The suit goes on to allege the boy’s mother had no opportunity to explain his condition or arrange for continued treatment in the U.S.
Additionally, ICE agents are reported to have denied family members’ access to legal representation, restricted them from contacting the children’s father, and prevented the arrangement of legal custody in the U.S.
The lawsuit asserts that despite being aware of the children’s citizenship, agents ignored federal guidelines that mandate detained parents must be given a chance to arrange care or seek reunification before deportation.
