A Louisiana federal judge has voiced concern over the deportation of a two-year-old US citizen and her mother, warning that the Trump administration may have carried out the removal ‘with no meaningful process’.
US District Judge Terry Doughty expressed deep concern on Friday that the Trump administration may have violated a toddler’s constitutional rights by deporting her to Honduras with her mother, defying not only legal safeguards but also the wishes of her father, The New York Times reported.
Doughty subsequently ordered a hearing for May 16 to delve into what he described as a ‘strong suspicion that the government just deported a US citizen with no meaningful process’.
On Tuesday, the child – identified only as V.M.L in court docs – was attending an immigration check-in at the New Orleans office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alongside her Honduran-born mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, and 11-year-old sister, Valeria, the Times reported.
The family was checking in at an office for the ‘Intensive Supervision Appearance Program’ – the very program that granted the mother’s release from ICE detention in 2021, NBC News reported.
However, their routine visit took a devastating turn when they were unexpectedly detained and lined up for deportation.
The father of two-year-old, who resides in the US, immediately sought custody of his daughter through an emergency petition filed on Thursday, aiming to prevent the toddler from being sent overseas.
The petition, which ignited a fierce court battle, called for the young girl’s immediate release from ICE custody, with the father stressing that he is ‘ready and willing’ to provide a safe home for her in the US.
US District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana (pictured) voiced concern over the deportation of a two-year-old US citizen and her mother on Friday, warning that the Trump administration may have carried out the removal ‘with no meaningful process’
On Tuesday, the child – identified only as V.M.L in court docs – was attending a routine immigration check-in at the New Orleans office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alongside her Honduran-born mother and 11-year-old sister
Doughty subsequently ordered a hearing for May 16 to delve into what he described as a ‘strong suspicion that the government just deported a US citizen with no meaningful process’
The petition described the child’s deportation as occurring ‘without any basis in law and violates her fundamental due process rights’, the Times reported.
Declaring that the toddler’s detention had been unlawful, lawyers for the father told the court that officials had denied him access to contact the girl’s mother – preventing any and all discussion about the child’s future.
On Tuesday, the father claimed that ICE allowed the pair to speak for only a minute, leaving them unable to make any meaningful decisions about their daughter due to the severe time constraint.
VML was born in Baton Rouge in January of 2023, making her a US citizen, according to NBC. The 11-year-old girl was born in Honduras.
Officials with the Trump administration argued in court on Thursday that the mother had informed ICE officials that she wanted to take her two-year-old daughter with her to Honduras.
Government lawyers provided a note they claimed was written by the mother, which said: ‘I will take my daughter… with me to Honduras’, NBC reported.
On the other hand, the judge emphasized that he had hoped to verify that information before any action was taken.
‘The Government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,’ Doughty wrote. ‘But the court doesn’t know that.’
VML’s case is just the latest in a growing list of concerns raised by the courts that the Trump administration is rushing deportations at the expense of due process – this time involving a two-year-old citizen
The president has been furious at the court for months as they attempt to overrule his plans for aggressive mass deportations, arguing that ‘you can’t have a trial for all these people’
The father of two-year-old VML, who resides in the US, immediately sought custody of his daughter through an emergency petition filed on Thursday – aiming to prevent the toddler from being sent overseas – but she had already been released in Honduras by Friday
Doughty even took matters into his own hands on Friday, attempting to investigate the deportation himself by trying to get VML’s mother on the phone to verify whether ICE’s claim about her desire to take the toddler abroad was accurate.
However, the judge said he was ‘independently aware’ that the plane he believed was carrying the family was already in the air and ‘above the Gulf of America’, Politico reported.
The Trump administration confirmed on Friday afternoon, as they informed the judge that a call with the mother would not be possible – the family had already been released in Honduras.
Doughty then scheduled the May hearing, a notable move considering he was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.
The judge has issued several major decisions in favor of the president and his allies in recent years, adding a layer of complexity to his involvement in the case.
VML’s case is just the latest in a growing list of concerns raised by the courts that the Trump administration is rushing deportations at the expense of due process – this time involving a two-year-old citizen.
Earlier this week, the president issued yet another warning to judges who have issued rulings that would curb his aggressive migrant deportation plans, arguing that ‘you can’t have a trial for all these people’.
Trump directed his comments at judges after another federal jurist, this one in New York, blocked migrants being held in the state from being deported without due process.
Officials with the Trump administration argued in court on Thursday that the mother had informed ICE officials that she wanted to take her two-year-old daughter with her to Honduras, but the judge wanted to verify the information before any action was taken
Trump argued that he must remove criminal migrants from the US because it will take ‘200 years’ for everyone to get a fair trial
Doughty’s concerns mark a notable move for the judge considering he was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017 and has issued several major decisions in favor of the president and his allies in recent years
He argued that he must remove criminal migrants from the US because it will take ‘200 years’ for everyone to get a fair trial.
‘And I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because, you know, we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,’ Trump said at the White House on Tuesday.
‘It wasn’t meant – the system wasn’t meant. And we don’t think there’s anything that says that,’ he said, offering his administration’s interpretation of the law.
‘Look, we are getting some very bad people, killers, murderers, drug dealers, really bad people, the mentally ill, the mentally insane,’ he said.
Then Trump – who at the same event said he had ‘no intention’ of firing Fed chair Jerome Powell in another brewing clash over executive power – complained about the delay that individual trials would place on the courts.
‘And a judge can’t say, No, you have to have a trial that lets – the trial’s going to take two years. We’re going to have a very we’re going to have a very dangerous country if we’re not allowed to do what we’re entitled to do. And I won an election based on the fact that we get them out,’ Trump said.