Judge states 2-year-old US citizen seems to have been expelled with 'no meaningful process'
On Friday, the girl and her mother were deported to Honduras, despite her father's attempts to allow her to remain in the United States.
TroibNews 
A federal judge has raised concerns regarding the Trump administration's actions in deporting a two-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras without “no meaningful process,” even as her father was desperately seeking court intervention to keep her in the country.
U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, appointed by Trump, stated that the child, referred to in court documents as "V.M.L.," seemed to have been released in Honduras earlier on Friday, along with her Honduran-born mother and sister, who had been detained by immigration officials earlier that week.
Doughty has scheduled a hearing for May 16, aimed at addressing "our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."
Court documents reveal that the child, whose redacted U.S. birth certificate indicates she was born in New Orleans in 2023, had been with her mother and sister during a standard immigration check-in at the New Orleans office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. During that visit, officials detained them and initiated deportation proceedings.
Officials representing the Trump administration claimed that the mother informed ICE officials of her intention to take V.M.L. to Honduras. Along with this assertion, a handwritten note in Spanish was submitted that allegedly confirmed her intent. However, Judge Doughty expressed his desire to verify this information.
“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.”
The legal proceedings escalated on Thursday, as the family’s lawyers filed an emergency petition in the Western District of Louisiana that sought V.M.L.'s immediate release from ICE custody and a ruling that her detention was unlawful. The petition was filed in the name of Trish Mack, who was asked by V.M.L.'s father to act as the child's custodian and retrieve her from ICE custody.
Lawyers for the guardian informed the court that V.M.L.'s father had been trying to communicate with the girl’s mother to discuss arrangements for their daughter, but ICE officials denied him meaningful phone access. Although ICE allowed a brief one-minute conversation on Tuesday, they were not able to make any significant decisions regarding the child.
As a U.S. citizen, V.M.L. is likely entitled to return to the United States, which distinguishes her situation from other recent cases that have drawn national attention, such as that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Salvadoran native was deported to a prison in his homeland in violation of a 2019 immigration court ruling. The Louisiana case highlights ongoing concerns that the Trump administration's expedited deportation efforts are infringing on due process rights—specifically, the rights of a U.S. citizen child.
Judge Doughty sought to investigate the emergency situation himself on Friday, attempting to contact V.M.L.'s mother to confirm whether ICE's assertions about her desire to bring her child to Honduras were truthful. He noted he was "independently aware" that the plane believed to be transporting the family was already “above the Gulf of America.”
On Friday afternoon, attorneys for the Trump administration informed Doughty that it would not be possible to have a phone conversation with the mother because she had just been released in Honduras. Following this, Doughty set the May hearing date.
Based in Monroe, Louisiana, about 100 miles from the Alexandria staging facility where the petitioners believed the mother and her daughters were held before deportation, Judge Doughty's strong criticism of the Trump administration is notable, considering he has previously issued significant rulings favoring Trump and his supporters.
Some conservatives viewed Doughty as a favorable judicial figure, and some even filed lawsuits in his division to enhance their chances of having their cases heard by him.
Despite his discontent with the government’s actions, it is worth noting that in his order on Friday, the judge referred to the body of water traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," seemingly acknowledging the president.
As of now, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have not provided immediate comments on the situation.
Camille Lefevre for TROIB News
U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, appointed by Trump, stated that the child, referred to in court documents as "V.M.L.," seemed to have been released in Honduras earlier on Friday, along with her Honduran-born mother and sister, who had been detained by immigration officials earlier that week.
Doughty has scheduled a hearing for May 16, aimed at addressing "our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."
Court documents reveal that the child, whose redacted U.S. birth certificate indicates she was born in New Orleans in 2023, had been with her mother and sister during a standard immigration check-in at the New Orleans office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. During that visit, officials detained them and initiated deportation proceedings.
Officials representing the Trump administration claimed that the mother informed ICE officials of her intention to take V.M.L. to Honduras. Along with this assertion, a handwritten note in Spanish was submitted that allegedly confirmed her intent. However, Judge Doughty expressed his desire to verify this information.
“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.”
The legal proceedings escalated on Thursday, as the family’s lawyers filed an emergency petition in the Western District of Louisiana that sought V.M.L.'s immediate release from ICE custody and a ruling that her detention was unlawful. The petition was filed in the name of Trish Mack, who was asked by V.M.L.'s father to act as the child's custodian and retrieve her from ICE custody.
Lawyers for the guardian informed the court that V.M.L.'s father had been trying to communicate with the girl’s mother to discuss arrangements for their daughter, but ICE officials denied him meaningful phone access. Although ICE allowed a brief one-minute conversation on Tuesday, they were not able to make any significant decisions regarding the child.
As a U.S. citizen, V.M.L. is likely entitled to return to the United States, which distinguishes her situation from other recent cases that have drawn national attention, such as that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Salvadoran native was deported to a prison in his homeland in violation of a 2019 immigration court ruling. The Louisiana case highlights ongoing concerns that the Trump administration's expedited deportation efforts are infringing on due process rights—specifically, the rights of a U.S. citizen child.
Judge Doughty sought to investigate the emergency situation himself on Friday, attempting to contact V.M.L.'s mother to confirm whether ICE's assertions about her desire to bring her child to Honduras were truthful. He noted he was "independently aware" that the plane believed to be transporting the family was already “above the Gulf of America.”
On Friday afternoon, attorneys for the Trump administration informed Doughty that it would not be possible to have a phone conversation with the mother because she had just been released in Honduras. Following this, Doughty set the May hearing date.
Based in Monroe, Louisiana, about 100 miles from the Alexandria staging facility where the petitioners believed the mother and her daughters were held before deportation, Judge Doughty's strong criticism of the Trump administration is notable, considering he has previously issued significant rulings favoring Trump and his supporters.
Some conservatives viewed Doughty as a favorable judicial figure, and some even filed lawsuits in his division to enhance their chances of having their cases heard by him.
Despite his discontent with the government’s actions, it is worth noting that in his order on Friday, the judge referred to the body of water traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," seemingly acknowledging the president.
As of now, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have not provided immediate comments on the situation.
Camille Lefevre for TROIB News
