Democratic politicians and major news outlets spent Sunday advancing a narrative that President Trump’s administration had deported American citizen children, igniting public outrage. However, statements from Trump administration officials made it clear that no U.S. citizen minors were deported — and that the parents, who were illegal immigrants, made the decision to bring their children with them when facing removal orders.
Media Pushes False Narrative on Deportations as Trump Officials Set Record Straight
Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the controversy head-on, explaining that while illegal immigrants may be subject to deportation, their U.S. citizen children are not legally barred from remaining in the United States. Rubio noted that deported parents are given the choice to either take their children with them or leave them behind. “If someone’s in the country unlawfully, illegally, that person gets deported,” Rubio stated. “If that person is with a two-year-old child, or has a two-year-old child, and says, ‘I want to take my child with me,’ well then what—?”
The story originated from reports that three U.S.-born children — aged two, four, and seven — had accompanied their mother, an illegal immigrant, back to Honduras after she was deported. Media outlets including CBS, MSNBC, CNN, and NBC quickly seized on the incident, accusing the Trump administration of forcibly deporting American citizens, including a four-year-old reportedly battling stage-four cancer.
White House "border czar" Tom Homan says he disagrees with the federal judge who said there was "no meaningful process" behind the deportation of a woman to Honduras with her children, one of whom is a 2-year-old U.S. citizen. He says the woman "had due process" and decided to… pic.twitter.com/WR3wDZ7Ouj
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 27, 2025
During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” former Border Patrol Chief Tom Homan corrected host Margaret Brennan’s misleading question by clarifying that “no U.S. citizen child was deported.” Homan reiterated that the mother, subject to lawful deportation, chose to bring her children with her rather than leave them behind.
The administration’s critics, such as MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend and ABC’s Whoopi Goldberg, had spent weeks warning that Trump would target American citizens for deportation. They used the weekend’s narrative to double down on these claims, despite the clear legal distinctions explained by officials. Senator Chuck Schumer also leveraged the controversy, alleging the Trump administration was violating due process—a claim that runs counter to polling data showing strong public support for stricter immigration enforcement.
Rubio pointed out the obvious dilemma: if the government prevented parents from taking their children, the headlines would instead accuse authorities of “holding hostage” American minors. “The parents make that choice,” Rubio emphasized, underscoring the personal responsibility involved.
Despite the media’s coordinated effort to frame the Trump administration’s actions as unjust, the facts demonstrate that immigration laws were applied appropriately. No American citizen was forcibly deported.
