Border Czar States That Being a US-Born Child Does Not Protect Against Deportation
Homan emphasized that having a child in the United States after entering illegally does not serve as a ‘get out of jail free card.’
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, stated that parents of children born in the United States while being undocumented are not exempt from deportation.
Homan contested the judge’s assertion that the deportation lacked due process.
The mother “received due process at great taxpayer expense and was ordered removed by an immigration judge after her hearings, so she did have due process,” Homan stated. He clarified that it was not the child being deported; rather, the mother chose to bring the girl with her.
In the interview, Homan noted that the responsibility lies with the parents who placed the child in such a predicament, not with the Trump administration.
“When you enter the country illegally, aware of your status, and decide to have a U.S. citizen child, that falls on you. It’s not the fault of this administration. If you opt to put your family in that situation, that’s on them,” Homan remarked.
He further added that having a child in the U.S. after entering unlawfully “does not provide a get out of jail free card. It does not exempt you from our laws. If we convey that message globally, women will continue to put themselves at risk and come to this country.”
“The message we send is: You can enter the country illegally—which is a crime—and have due process at great taxpayer expense, only to be ordered removed. But if you have a U.S. citizen child, you’re immune from removal? That’s not how it operates.”
Doughty has scheduled a hearing for next month “to address our strong suspicion that the Government deported a U.S. citizen without meaningful process.”
“The Government claims this is acceptable because the mother wishes for the child to be deported with her,” Doughty stated in the order. “However, the Court lacks certainty about that.”
President Donald Trump, whose campaigns have heavily emphasized border security and illegal immigration, has implemented multiple executive orders and directives aimed at removing millions of undocumented immigrants who entered during the preceding four years.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained 145,000 immigration violators within Trump’s first three months in office, a significant increase from 113,000 in the entirety of fiscal 2024, according to Homeland Security officials.
This month, the Supreme Court temporarily prohibited the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan undocumented immigrants accused of being gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. The government is pushing for the justices to lift their order.
The court made this decision after lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union requested emergency intervention, arguing that several Venezuelan undocumented immigrants faced imminent deportation without the judicial review previously mandated by the justices.
Reuters contributed to this report.
