Judge issues scathing attack on Donald Trump after claiming he deported 2-year-old US citizen
Topics: World News, US News, Politics, Donald Trump
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Win McNamee
Topics: World News, US News, Politics, Donald Trump
A federal judge has expressed concern after claiming that the Trump administration deported a two-year-old US citizen this week.
The New York Times has reported that Trump-appointed US District Judge Terry Doughty raised concerns on Friday (25 April) over fears that the toddler's constitutional rights may have been violated, after she was deported to Honduras along with her mother and older sister.
Since President Donald Trump came back into power this year, he's wasted no time in signing off a number of executive orders and changes, including 'the largest deportation in American history'.
But, according to Judge Doughty, the toddler - known as V.M.L in court documents - could have been ordered to leave the country with 'no meaningful process'.
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Earlier this week, the toddler was undergoing an immigration check-in in New Orleans, with her older sister and mother - who were both born in Honduras - Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela.
But the routine visit ended in disaster when they were instead deported to Honduras, despite V.M.L's father - who lives in the US - from filing an emergency petition to seek custody of his daughter.
This would have prevented the youngster - who was born in New Orleans - from being sent to Honduras.
Despite the father being 'ready and willing' to provide a home for his daughter, his lawyers told the court that he was denied any contact with her mother, to discuss what should happen next.
According to reports, the pair spoke for a minute on Tuesday, but due to the pressing restrictions on how long they could communicate, they were limited on what they could discuss.
In response, the Trump team have reportedly argued that Villela wanted to take her daughter to Honduras.
They showed a note, in Spanish and claiming to have been written by Villela, that stated: "I will take my daughter... with me to Honduras."
However, in documents, Doughty wrote: "The Government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her. But the court doesn't know that."
Politico report that Doughty himself tried to verify whether V.M.L's mother had claimed she wanted to take her daughter with her, however, the Trump administration confirmed that the family had already arrived in Honduras.
As a result of this, a hearing has been set for May 16 after Judge Doughty said he had a 'strong suspicion that the government just deported a US citizen with no meaningful process'.
UNILAD has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.