U.S. Citizen Children Deported to Mexico with Mother Amid Controversy

Two U.S. citizen children were deported to Mexico alongside their mother after being detained by authorities in Austin. Concerns about due process and family separation have been raised by their attorney, indicating alarming trends in deportation practices under the current administration.

AUSTIN – In a troubling incident, two children, who are U.S. citizens, were deported along with their mother to Mexico, as detailed by their attorney. Cori Hash, a senior staff attorney from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, reported on Wednesday that the family was detained last week near Dobie Middle School in North Austin.

Law enforcement from the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped the family on the morning of April 30, leading to the detention of the father by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Although the mother was not detained at that moment, she was directed to report to an ICE facility in San Antonio the following day. The exact number of children present at the time of the detention remains unclear, according to Hash.

While the mother and father are not married, they have been together for several years and share three children, aged 8, 5, and 4. Of these, the two youngest are U.S. citizens. The father was deported on Tuesday, while the mother and the children faced deportation the very next morning.

Hash has requested that the family’s identities be kept confidential to prevent any further risk. “They had no due process whatsoever,” Hash stated, emphasizing her concerns regarding the administration’s approach to deportations. “It just goes to show that this administration feels that it can deport U.S. citizens whenever it wishes and however it wishes.”

The Dallas Morning News has not yet confirmed the citizenship status of the children. However, Carlos Enrique Gonzalez Echevarria, the director of the Department of Protection at the Mexican Consulate in Austin, mentioned that the father had informed consulate officials about his children’s American citizenship during his detention.

Neither the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the San Antonio ICE field office, nor the Department of Public Safety responded to requests for comments by the afternoon on Wednesday. This incident is part of a larger trend, as attorneys have previously accused the Trump administration of unlawfully deporting U.S. citizens in a massive crackdown on illegal immigration. Just last month, the American Civil Liberties Union cited cases where three U.S. citizen children were sent back to Honduras, one of whom was a 4-year-old cancer patient.

In response to these claims, the DHS issued a statement on April 29 indicating that mothers had made the choice to accompany their children during deportation. However, Hash highlighted that there are family members in the U.S. who could care for the children who were left behind, but attempts to communicate with them were obstructed during the family’s detention.

Michelle Lapointe, legal director for the American Immigration Council, remarked on what she perceives as a consistent pattern of ICE failing to allow parents to take necessary steps for their children’s welfare. “What happens is that you are, in effect, exiling a U.S. citizen to a foreign country where they often have no ties or connections,” she explained in a phone interview.

After the father’s detention, the mother went to San Antonio on May 2, where she was fitted with an ankle monitor. She was later instructed to report to another ICE facility in Pflugerville, approximately 20 miles north of Austin. Accompanied by her three children, she was detained upon arrival, with Hash confirming that she was on the phone with the mother when ICE agents asked her to come inside.

Ultimately, both the father and mother, along with their three children, were deported to Reynosa, Mexico, a city located across the border from McAllen, Texas. Hash reports that this family’s ordeal highlights deeper issues within U.S. immigration policy and enforcement practices.

In summary, this incident raises serious concerns about the deportation practices of U.S. authorities, particularly regarding the treatment of U.S. citizen children. The case illustrates a potentially alarming trend where families face abrupt deportation without due process, leaving vulnerable children in uncertain situations. As legal experts raise alarms over patterns in parental deportations, it is clear that the repercussions of such policy decisions have far-reaching effects on American families.

Original Source: www.dallasnews.com