On a warm spring morning in New Orleans, two-year-old V.M.L. clutched a hospital security bracelet as she sat on her mother’s lap at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. When agents asked for the family’s paperwork, no one imagined the toddler, a U.S. citizen, would be on a flight to Honduras by nightfall.

But that is exactly what happened. Despite her Louisiana birth certificate, V.M.L. was deported alongside her Honduran-born mother and sister, without any hearing or due process. Now, a federal judge is demanding answers: how could an American child be stripped of her rights so easily?

V.M.L.’s case is not an isolated mistake. Since January 2025, at least seven U.S. citizens, from toddlers to retirees, have been wrongly detained or deported by ICE and Border Patrol during routine encounters at checkpoints, traffic stops, and immigration offices. Each story exposes a system where speed and intimidation have replaced law and due process, and where basic protections for U.S. citizens are treated as obstacles to enforcement quotas.

Seven Lives, Seven Failures

In New Orleans, two-year-old V.M.L. was deported after ICE listed her as a “document abuse” case despite her Louisiana birth certificate. ICE claims her mother requested deportation, but no hearing ever took place.

In South Texas, a family rushing their ten-year-old daughter to chemotherapy was stopped at a checkpoint. Border Patrol agents detained them for six hours, ignoring their U.S. birth certificates and hospital documents, before expelling them to Mexico. The family now risks their lives sneaking back into the country for treatment.

In Chicago, Julio Noriega was arrested without cause while handing out resumes near O’Hare Airport. Even after presenting a Social Security card and a driver’s license, he was locked up for ten hours and released only after a public defender intervened.

In suburban Lyons, ICE agents raided the wrong home and detained lifelong U.S. citizen Abel Orozco Ortega for weeks based on a warrant meant for someone else. He is still fighting for release.

In Virginia, Jensy Machado was boxed in by unmarked vehicles at a traffic light, pulled out at gunpoint, and detained for 24 hours despite showing a valid state ID and birth certificate. He is now too terrified to drive alone. In the case of Jensy, he is a Trump voter, who says he is now reconsidering his support for the president.

In Tucson, Jose Hermosillo was arrested at the hospital doors following a seizure. Border Patrol officers dragged him to a private detention center for ten days, delaying his recovery.

In Miami, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was pressured into falsely confessing to illegal entry after a minor traffic stop. Only after two days of detention did authorities verify he was born in Florida.

Why It Keeps Happening

The Immigration and Nationality Act makes it illegal to deport U.S. citizens. Yet ICE and Border Patrol operate under fascistic enforcement models where speed and fear are prioritized over truth and rights. Agents are allowed to detain individuals based on “suspicious” documents, including birth certificates and Social Security cards, without any urgent requirement to verify citizenship claims. Officers are pressured to meet arrest and deportation quotas that value body counts over accuracy. Mistakes are not punished; they are buried. Training varies wildly between offices, and agents are taught to treat every inconsistency as a threat rather than cross-check basic federal databases. The result is a system where the line between citizen and migrant is blurred on purpose to maximize removals.

The human cost is devastating. Medical emergencies are derailed, as seen with the Texas girl whose cancer treatment was disrupted. Psychological trauma is inflicted on toddlers and adults alike, leaving them too scared to seek help or travel. Financial devastation follows as families struggle to recover from illegal detentions and scramble for legal aid.

At least four federal lawsuits are pending, and a Congressional inquiry is finally underway. Civil rights groups are demanding mandatory secondary checks using independent government databases, full integration of ICE systems with state records and the Social Security Administration, and independent review boards to investigate wrongful detentions and deportations.

What Needs to Change

This is not about better paperwork. This is about ending a culture of fascistic abuse that prizes domination over protection. No citizen should ever be detained before their documents are cross-verified through multiple sources. Officers must undergo real, standardized training focused on recognizing U.S. documents and understanding constitutional rights. DHS must be forced to issue quarterly public reports listing wrongful detentions, broken down by age, race, and resolution. Exposure must lead to pressure, and pressure must lead to change.

American Citizenship Should Mean Something

American citizenship is supposed to guarantee protection against government overreach. Yet these cases show a system eager to erase that guarantee whenever it is convenient.

As lawsuits move forward and Congress starts to probe, the real question is not whether mistakes were made. The real question is whether America has the courage to confront and dismantle the fascist methods that made them inevitable.