Rubio, Homan Dispute ‘misleading’ Accusations Trump Admin Deported Kids to Parents’ country of origin: ‘They went with their mothers’; Did Trump Administration Deport US Children? What We Know
Rubio, Homan dispute ‘misleading’ accusations Trump admin deported kids to parents’ country of origin: ‘They went with their mothers’:
Two top Trump administration officials Sunday hit back at accusations that young children with US citizenship were being deported to their parents’ country of origin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and border czar Tom Homan insisted that the children’s deported parents made the decision to bring their kids along with them, rather than the Trump administration booting the young American citizens.
“Children aren’t deported,” Homan said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
“The mother chose to take the children with her,” he said of a recent case. “[If] you’re here illegally, and you choose to have a US citizen child, that’s on you” on what to do if you get deported.
“That’s not on this administration,” he said.
Rubio also complained about the media coverage of children getting sent back to their deported parents’ country of origin.
“You guys make it sound like [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents kicked down the door and grabbed a 2-year-old and threw him on an airplane. That’s misleading. That’s just not true,” he said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Last week, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana raised concerns that the administration sent a 2-year-old back to Honduras alongside her deported mother “with no meaningful process,” despite the father’s wishes to keep her in the US.
Responding to an emergency petition from the child’s father, Judge Terry Doughty griped that “the court doesn’t know that” it was actually the mother’s “wishes that the child be deported with her.” Doughty also stressed that it’s “illegal and unconstitutional to deport” a US citizen.
“I disagree with the judge. It was due process,” Homan said. “That female had due process at great taxpayer expense and was ordered by an immigration judge after those hearings.
“This is Parenting 101,” he said. “You can decide to take that child with you, or you can decide to leave a child here with a relative or another spouse.
“Having a US citizen child doesn’t make you immune from our laws of the country.” —>READ MORE HERE
Did Trump Administration Deport US Children? What We Know:
President Donald Trump’s administration is under fire after three American children were removed from the United States.
Government officials maintained that the children were not forcibly removed but accompanied their undocumented mothers, who had been deported.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment via contact form outside normal office hours.
Why It Matters
The Trump administration has been accused of disregarding due process protections, especially for vulnerable groups, such as the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. While the administration has consistently pursued a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement, cases like this highlight complex questions about the balance between immigration enforcement and humane policies.
An AP-NORC poll conducted from April 17 to 21 among 1,260 adults found that 53 percent disapproved of Trump’s immigration policy. Similarly, an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, conducted from April 18 to 22, showed that more Americans disapproved (53 percent) than approved (46 percent) of the president’s handling of immigration.
What To Know
Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected claims that three American children—all under the age of 10, including one with Stage IV cancer—were deported without due process, calling the accusations “misleading” on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that the Trump administration did not deport American children to Honduras, adding that the children were sent to the Central American country because their mothers—who had been deported—chose to bring them along.
“No U.S. citizen child was deported,” Homan said. “Deported means ordered by an immigration judge.” —>READ MORE HERE