Judge claims that Trump administration deported 2-year-old US girl 'without due process'

Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, a Trump appointee, condemned the likely illegal deportation of a two-year-old American girl without due process.

In a brief order, the judge stated that the Trump administration deported the minor, identified in court documents as V.M.L., to Honduras with her mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez, despite the father’s attempt to block their departure through an emergency petition on Thursday.

According to the judge, the Trump administration proceeded with the deportation after the mother, Jenny Lopez, expressed her wish for her daughter to remain with her.

"The government contends that this is all OK because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her," Judge Doughty wrote. “But the court doesn’t know that.”

In the wake of the case, the judge ruled that “it is illegal and unconstitutional to deport” a U.S. citizen, as is the case with the girl. He also scheduled a hearing for May 16 to further investigate, citing his "strong suspicion" that the government deported a U.S. citizen without providing meaningful due process.

This case marks the latest legal challenge to the Trump administration's efforts to pursue mass deportations. It adds to the controversy surrounding the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua (TdA), and the deportation of U.S. citizen Kilmar Armando Abrego García to El Salvador, where he is being held in a maximum security prison.

Many relatives and advocates of the Venezuelan deportees insist that their loved ones or clients have no connection to the feared TdA criminal gang, which has been designated a terrorist group by the federal government. The Trump administration is deporting these immigrants under a rarely used wartime statute that grants the government broad powers to deport foreign enemies.

In the case of the girl identified as V.M.L., court records reveal that the two-year-old was with her mother and older sister, Valeria, at an immigration appointment in New Orleans on Tuesday when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

Lopez Villela was scheduled for removal on Friday. According to Justice Department attorneys, the mother had informed ICE of her intention to take her daughter with her to Honduras.

However, in a petition filed by the girl’s legal guardian, the father claimed that during a brief phone call, he heard Lopez Villela and her daughters crying and reminded her that her daughter was a U.S. citizen and could not be deported. He attempted to provide her with a lawyer’s contact information, but she alleges that officials cut off the communication.

The petition argued that V.M.L.’s detention violated her fundamental rights and requested her immediate release into the custody of her guardian, Trish Mack.

Judge Doughty attempted to personally contact Lopez Villela on Friday to verify her consent, but by then, the plane carrying the mother and daughters was already over the Gulf of America. Official confirmation came minutes later from a Justice Department lawyer: Lopez Villela had been released in Honduras, likely with the girls.