Key Points and Summary: Recent reports highlight controversial deportations under the second Trump administration, including cases involving US citizen children.
-Rolling Stone detailed three citizen children deported from New Orleans, one reportedly a 4-year-old cancer patient sent without medication.
-Separately, a Trump-appointed judge criticized the deportation of a 2-year-old US citizen to Honduras, questioning if due process was followed.
-These incidents coincide with shifting public opinion; a new CNN/SSRS poll shows a majority (52%) now believe Trump has “gone too far” on deportations, an increase since February, indicating growing unease with the administration’s immigration enforcement practices.
Donald Trump Going Too Far?
U.S. President Donald J. Trump came into office promising many deportations, especially following the first-ever Republican convention to feature “Mass Deportation Now” signs.
Trump has proceeded with the deportations, including some high-profile legal edge cases, although some MAGA fans have complained that they haven’t been enough.
Trump has also mused occasionally about deporting “homegrown” criminals.
Now, a new report says that the Trump Administration has deported some people who are neither noncitizens nor criminals- they’re children. In at least one case, with cancer.
Children Deported
Per Rolling Stone, on Friday morning, three children who are U.S. citizens were deported, along with their mothers, by ICE in New Orleans.
One of the children is undergoing cancer treatment, while one of the mothers is pregnant.
The children with cancer is described as “a four-year-old suffering from a rare form of metastatic cancer and was deported out of the country without medication or consultation with their treating physicians.”
Both families, per the report, “had lived in the country for years.” The ACLU says that the two families were detained on Tuesday and Thursday, before they were deported on Friday.
“No Meaningful Due Process”
Politico reported earlier this week on the story of the two-year-old, whose mother is pregnant, who was deported.
U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, said last week that the two-year-old U.S. citizen appears to have been deported to Honduras, along with her mother and sister, with “no meaningful process.”
The child was born in New Orleans in 2023.
A hearing has been scheduled for May 16, to address what the judge called “our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.”
The Trump Administration claimed that the mother had asked for her daughter to be deported along with her. The child was already in Honduras by the time the matter reached the courts.
“The Government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,” Judge Doughty wrote, per Politico. “But the Court doesn’t know that.”
Doughty, appointed by Trump in his first term, has often sided with the administration in the past, Politico noted, to the point where Trump allies have purposely filed in his jurisdiction, to get him as a judge.
Deportation Policies Are Increasingly Unpopular
Immigration was Trump’s strongest issue in the 2024 election, and his calls to “secure the border” and prevent criminals from other countries from causing harm appeared to connect with voters.
But just as with the family separation policy in Trump’s first term, the actual mechanics of deportation, and the facts on the ground of things that are happening, have become unpopular, to the point where Trump is now underwater, polling-wise, on the immigration issues.
Per a CNN/SSRS poll released on Wednesday, more than half of Americans say Trump has gone too far with deportations.
Asked the question of “do you think Donald Trump has gone too far, has been about right, or has not gone far enough when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally?,” a majority of 52 percent answered “gone too far,” up from 45 percent in February, before most of the high-profile deportation cases happened.
“The administration’s push to revoke the visas of some international students, for instance, draws 2-to-1 opposition, while moving troops to the southern border garners more supportive reactions,” CNN said.
In the specific case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man deported to a prison in El Salvador, 56 percent of poll respondents say that the Trump Administration should work to bring him back, as they have been ordered to do by the courts. Another 20 percent say the administration should not work to get him back, while 23 percent haven’t heard enough to have an opinion.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Trump Might Have More Problems…
