On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified recent reports regarding three American citizen children, stating they were not deported but chose to accompany their mothers, who were expelled due to their undocumented status. Rubio addressed the issue in an interview shared by Rapid Response 47 on X, criticizing what he described as yet another instance of "fake news" propagated by some media outlets.
"The headline is misleading," Rubio stated. "Three American citizens, aged four, seven, and two, were not deported. Their mothers, who were in the country illegally, were deported. The children left with their mothers." He emphasized that as U.S. citizens, the children have the right to remain in or return to the United States at any time, based on their families' decisions: "It's the parents who make that decision," Rubio underlined.
Rubio debunked the narrative that federal agents forcibly separated or deported the children. "It's not as it's presented, as if ICE agents broke down a door, grabbed a two-year-old, and threw them on a plane. That's not true," he explained. When asked about current immigration policies concerning citizen children, Rubio clarified that when an adult is deported, they have the option to take their children with them or leave the children in the U.S. under the care of relatives.
"If we didn't allow children to travel with their parents, the headlines would claim that the U.S. holds citizen children hostage," Rubio noted. He reiterated that it is each family's responsibility to decide where the children will stay. "The children go with their parents. The parents decide where their children go," Rubio concluded, once again dismissing reports that attempted to portray the situation inaccurately.
Despite the Secretary of State's statements, a federal investigation was launched following the deportation of a two-year-old American citizen to Honduras with her mother, allegedly without due legal process. The case involves a minor identified as VML, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 4, 2023. The child was deported on Friday with her Honduran mother, who had received a deportation order, according to court documents accessed by NBC News.
In a related event last March, a 10-year-old American girl recovering from brain cancer was deported to Mexico with her family after being detained at an immigration checkpoint in Texas. The authorities arrested the undocumented parents of the girl, who were traveling from Rio Grande, Texas, to Houston for the girl's medical checkup. Among the group were four other children, of whom only one was not born in the United States.
Recently, President Donald Trump proposed the idea of deporting American citizens considered violent criminals, raising alarms in legal and human rights circles due to its potential unconstitutionality. During a meeting in the Oval Office with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, Trump expressed, "I'd like to go a step further. I told Pam [Bondi, Attorney General], I don't know what the laws are, we always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals who push people onto subway tracks, who hit elderly women in the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking, who are absolute monsters."
Frequently Asked Questions About U.S. Citizen Children and Deportation
What rights do U.S. citizen children have if their parents are deported?
U.S. citizen children have the right to stay in the country or return at any time. It is up to their families to decide whether the children will accompany their deported parents or remain under the care of relatives in the U.S.
Is it true that ICE forcibly separates children from their families?
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the narrative that ICE agents forcibly separate or deport children is false. Parents make the decision on whether their children accompany them during deportation.
Has there been any legal action regarding the deportation of citizen children?
Yes, a federal investigation was initiated after a two-year-old American citizen was deported to Honduras with her mother without apparent legal due process.