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Right-wing media defend the Trump administration’s deportation of children with US citizenship

The families were reportedly not given a chance to make alternate arrangements for the children, but right-wing media are still claiming the mothers chose to take their kids and are attacking them as “anchor babies”

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Noah Dowe

Published

The Trump administration deported two women along with their U.S. citizen children to Honduras last week, including a 4-year-old who was “receiving treatment for metastatic cancer.” While the Trump administration claims the mothers took the children with them willingly, lawyers for the families noted that the mothers were not given meaningful access to lawyers or family members to make alternate arrangements. 

Right-wing media have defended the administration’s actions by claiming migrants are using children as “anchor babies,” blaming the parents for their children being removed from the country, and calling it “a nonstory.” 

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  • The Trump administration deported two women alongside their U.S. citizen children, reportedly without giving them access to their lawyers

    • Three U.S. citizen children were deported to Honduras along with their mothers, including a 4-year-old “with Stage 4 cancer who was sent without medication.” As the BBC reported, “Three young children who are US citizens — including one with cancer — were deported to Honduras alongside their mothers last week, according to advocacy groups and the families' lawyers.” [BBC, 4/28/25]
    • The Trump administration has claimed that the kids weren’t technically deported, but were allowed to leave as the mothers wanted to take them. Trump “border czar” Tom Homan added, “This is parenting 101. You can decide to take that child with you, or you can decide to leave a child here with a relative or another spouse.” [CBS News, 4/27/25]
    • The lawyers for the families have said they were given no real opportunity to make alternate arrangements for the children. According to NBC News, “One mother who was about to be deported was allowed less than two minutes on the phone with her husband to figure out what would become of her 2-year-old U.S. citizen child. Another mother wasn’t allowed to speak with attorneys or family members before she was deported, accompanied by her U.S.-born children, even though Immigration and Customs Enforcement knew one of them had Stage 4 cancer.” [NBC News, 4/28/25]
    • A federal judge in Louisiana stated his “strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process,” even as the father was trying to keep her in the country. According to Politico, lawyers had filed an emergency petition trying to get the child released from ICE custody. [Politico, 4/25/25]
    • The ACLU of Louisiana issued a statement condemning the “deeply troubling circumstances” of the case, which they say “raise serious due process concerns” and “stand in direct violation of ICE’s own written and informal directives.” The statement is co-signed by seven human rights and immigration figures. Ware Immigration’s Erin Hebert said that “deporting U.S. citizen children is illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral,” and Teresa Reyes-Flores of the Southeast Dignity not Detention Coalition argued, “ICE’s actions show a blatant violation of due process and basic human rights.” [ACLU, 4/25/25] 

  • Right-wing media have defended Trump’s actions by calling the children “anchor babies,” blaming the deported parents, and dismissing the issue as a “nonstory”

    • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty dismissed the deportations, saying the kids “are only U.S. citizens because their illegal alien parents came here and then had children in the United States.” Finnerty also claimed that “the media didn’t mention that ICE has no idea where their fathers are. They could stay with their fathers, potentially, but ICE isn't even sure if their fathers are still in the United States.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 4/29/25] 
    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt complained that “evidently, illegals using their kids as anchor babies can now no longer be deported if the child is sick.” Schmitt accused Biden of “treasonously” inviting “20 million people” into America and attacked the media for going after “every little mistake [of the Trump administration] they can and exploit it.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 4/28/25] 
    • On Newsmax, Washington Examiner’s Tiana Lowe Doescher said that “this is the opposite of family separation policy.” She continued, “We can’t have a double standard where there is no due process to enter the country … and we need all the due process in the world to get out. Trump is very, very smart for starting with the most unsavory of characters.” [Newsmax, The Right Squad, 4/28/25] 
    • Fox host Laura Ingraham said that the children “were just anchors for more illegal immigration” and praised Trump for “keeping the families together in their home countries.” Ingraham framed the issue as being about the “children of illegals” rather than minors who are U.S. citizens. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/28/25]
    • Fox host Will Cain praised Tom Homan for “talking about the common sense of parenting and the consequences when you are doing something illegal as a parent.” Cain added, “Any crime, including the crime of illegal immigration, carries with it consequences.” [Fox News, The Will Cain Show, 4/28/25] 
    • While interviewing Homan, Fox’s Jason Chaffetz accused a media outlet of “pushing a fake headline, accusing the administration of deporting children with cancer.” Homan responded by saying the administration doesn’t deport U.S. citizens. [Fox News, The Big Weekend Show, 4/27/25]
    • Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke justified the deportations by saying that “90% of moms, if not higher, would be like ‘my baby is coming with me.’” Corke added, “They’re going to try to play this in the media, but I think they’re barking up the wrong tree here.” [Fox News, The Big Weekend Show, 4/26/25] 
    • On Fox & Friends, co-host Ainsley Earhardt praised Homan for arguing that it is the parents’ fault their children were sent to Honduras with their mothers. Earhardt: “How great was his press conference yesterday? He was like, ‘Don't blame me or don’t blame our country if you came here illegally and you had children here.’ He said, ‘We're going to deport you. That's not our fault. That's the parents for doing that to the children.’” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/29/25]
    • Right-wing pundit Dave Rubin attacked the mothers for trying to “skirt around the law … and do whatever you want with your kids.” Rubin continued, “One day it is very likely, especially if you live in a red state, that it is going to come smack you in the face.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 4/28/25] 
    • Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro suggested that it was a “lie” that Trump was deporting “innocent 2-year olds” because “that mom wanted the child to go with her.” Shapiro continued, “So, again, the media tried to report that as the Trump administration kind of stealing away, in the dead of night, two-year-olds. That's not happening.” [Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 4/28/25] 
    • UnHerd magazine’s Emily Jashinsky argued deporting children along with their mothers is “just plainly a nonstory.” She suggested that what happened is a “common sense” outcome of “when somebody comes to the United States, overstays, is not supposed to be in the country anymore, and has a child there.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 4/28/25] 
    • QAnon figure David Marc Fishman said the deportations were a “fake story” because “the parents made the choice." He continued, “They could have said kids, stay here. We’re leaving you. They decided to take the children with them.” [Rumble, X22 Report, 4/27/25; Bug-eyed and Shameless, 12/12/23]
    • Right-wing influencer Alexander Muse, known online as “Amuse,” asked if “Democrats now support child separation.” [Twitter/X, 4/27/25; The Guardian, 8/26/24] 
    • Article III Project’s Will Chamberlain claimed that the left “wants childbearing to be a get-out-of-jail free card for illegal immigration.” [Twitter/X, 4/26/25]