For Immediate Release
April 30, 2025
Contact
media@nipnlg.org
In response to yesterday’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement titled “Fact Check: DHS is NOT Deporting American Children,” the National Immigration Project, Justice in Motion, Ware Immigration, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, Sanctuary of the South, and the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition are compelled to set the record straight: DHS is doubling down on a false and dangerous narrative about parental consent and the rights of US citizens.
In the two cases at the heart of public concern, three US citizen children – ages 2, 4, and 7 – were not given a choice to stay.
DHS’s claim that these families were offered a clear, voluntary choice is demonstrably false. ICE instructed both mothers to bring their children to routine check-ins, describing it as a family wellness check to one of the families – then abruptly detained them, cutting off access to families and attorneys and denying them any due process. There was no meaningful decision to be made. The mothers were forcibly deported, and their US citizen children were taken with them under duress. No safe or practical alternative was provided to allow the children to remain in their country of birth.
To compound the harm, DHS’s public statement identifies the families involved, needlessly exposing them to further danger. This is not just a violation of trust; it is a reckless act that puts real lives at risk and underlines the lack of concern for the safety and welfare of these children and their families.
The reality is clear: US citizen children were unlawfully deported, along with their moms and another child, in the dead of night. The mothers were detained incommunicado and their children unlawfully held in custody and ICE did not even follow its own policy. They were not given an opportunity to make meaningful choices for their children or to pursue legal filings for themselves.
The public expects honesty, integrity, and accountability from our government. What they received from DHS’s statement instead was a dangerous spin. Nothing DHS says to try to distract from these blatant constitutional violations changes the fundamental reality that the Trump administration is once again separating families and putting children in harm’s way.
We urge the public and press to scrutinize these claims carefully, and to hold the Trump administration accountable for the harms it is causing to those directly impacted by its cruel and unlawful immigration policies.
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