Immigrant advocates in North Carolina say family was deported without due process
Immigrant advocates and members of the school community in Durham, North Carolina, are calling for justice after they say two children and their parents were swiftly detained and deported to Honduras without due process.
Advocates say Genesis, 11, and Denis, 6, and their parents attended a scheduled appointment with immigration authorities on Monday, and by Thursday morning the family had been deported to Honduras as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Siembra NC, the civil rights group advocating for the family, said the family came to the United States in 2022 and applied for asylum. As one of the requirements of that process, they had to attend scheduled check-in appointments with immigration officials.
On Monday, the children's aunt waited for the family in the parking lot while they attended their appointment, the group said. An hour and a half later, the aunt received a call from a federal agent saying the family had been detained, said the group.
"This family was lured into the check-in office under a false pretense of safety and they were ripped away from their lives, from their school, and deported in about 48 hours," Andreina Malki of Siembra NC said during a press conference Thursday. "That should alarm all of us, because if children that are attending school in Durham can be kidnapped by agents through the back of a building in the middle of the day and deported after doing everything right, then what we're seeing is not enforcement for public safety. This is the dismantling of any promise of safety."
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the family had a final order of removal and had no pending asylum claims.
"ICE does not 'raid' schools or target children," the statement said. "This illegal alien family unit was issued a final order of removal by a judge after they failed to show up for their immigration hearing. They were returned to their home country of Honduras together. They received full due process and had no pending asylum claims or immigration applications."
Malki said that following their check-in appointment, the family was placed in a van with tinted windows.
"They could see their aunt in the parking lot in their car, but they could not wave to her, they could not speak to her, and they could not say goodbye," Malki said.
North Carolina State Sen. Sophia Chitlik said several members of the county commission and school board have volunteered to accompany families to these check-ins in the future to document DHS' actions.
The president of the Durham Association of Educators, Mika Twietmeyer, read a statement Thursday from Genesis' fifth grade teacher, who described Genesis as "a smart young lady with a bright future."
"She is a little scientist and mathematician in our classroom, she is always ready to explore, experiment, and learn," the teacher's statement said. "She is always ready to help others learn. She is a giving little girl who leads with her heart. Her character comes from her family. They are loving, kind, and work hard to support their children."
