The American Civil Liberties Union has dropped a federal lawsuit accusing the Department of Homeland Security of illegally deporting a United States child, her Honduran mother, and sister.
“The ACLU dropped its lawsuit on false claims that DHS deported a U.S. citizen,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release Saturday.
The federal lawsuit against DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement was referred to as “baseless lawfare” in the news release.
“The truth is, and always has been, that the mother – who was in the country illegally – chose to bring her 2-year-old with her to Honduras when she was removed,” McLaughlin told reporters.
“The narrative that DHS is deporting American children is false and irresponsible.”
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on Trish Mack’s behalf in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, referring to her as “best friend of V.M.L.”
The initials “V.M.L.” were used to identify the 2-year-old child who was born in the United States but whose mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez-Villela, chose to bring with her to Honduras.
Lopez-Villela and V.M.L.’s older sister illegally entered the United States three times in two years, according to the DHS.
She entered in September 2019 with her oldest daughter, but was “deemed inadmissible” and received final orders of removal in March 2020.
Lopez-Villela also illegally entered the United States in March 2021 and again in August 2021, accompanied by her oldest daughter.
ICE detained her in April when she arrived with her daughters for a routine immigration check-in at a New Orleans facility.
When Lopez-Villela was told she would be deported to Honduras, she chose to bring V.M.L. with her rather than leaving her with another person in the United States.
“Parents who are here illegally can take control of their departure,” DHS said of deportable parents’ children born in the United States.
They can self-deport with their children using the CBP Home app and “return the legal, right way and come back to live the American dream,” according to a DHS news release.
The CBP Home app is free and available on all mobile devices.
The ACLU did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday afternoon, but in an April 25th news release, it accused the New Orleans ICE field office of deporting three “U.S. citizen children.”
According to DHS, two of the children are Lopez-Villela’s daughters, with only one being a US citizen.
The other child, a 7-year-old, left when his pregnant mother was deported after being arrested in New Orleans in April.
The DHS did not confirm or deny the child’s citizenship status, but the ACLU claims the child has a rare form of cancer.
According to the ACLU, ICE deported the mother and her child despite being informed of the child’s medical needs and the mother’s pregnancy.
The ACLU stated that the deportations were carried out “under deeply disturbing circumstances that raise serious due process concerns.”
“The families had lived in the United States for years and had deep ties to their communities,” according to the ACLU.
They were denied access to their attorneys, which the ACLU claims deprived them of legal representation, and ICE deported the mothers and their children on an early morning flight from Louisiana.
