District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, ordered a follow-up hearing, saying the court is suspicious the government deported a U.S. citizen.
A Trump-appointed federal judge has raised concerns that a 2-year-old U.S. citizen may have been deported to Honduras « with no meaningful process. »
The toddler, who was born in Louisiana, court documents say, was deported along with her Honduran mother and sister on Friday after her mother wrote a letter asking for the 2-year-old girl to be deported too, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) via email for comment on Friday night.
Since his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping change, mainly through executive orders, and has prioritized immigration as a key pillar within the administration.
Trump last month utilized the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that grants the commander in chief authority to detain or deport noncitizens. The implementation was originally blocked in federal court and sparked a contentious legal back-and-forth.
Trump’s implementation of the act was originally upheld by the Supreme Court, but the justices also ruled that immigrants must first be afforded the right to legally challenge any deportation efforts.
