US Deported 2-Month-Old Baby With Bronchitis

US immigration authorities deported a 2-month-old baby suffering from bronchitis to Mexico along with the child’s family, according to a statement from Texas Representative Joaquin Castro. Castro said the infant had been unresponsive in the hours before discharge but was nevertheless released from a hospital and removed from the United States.

Castro said Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported the baby together with his 16-month-old sister and their parents, citing confirmation from the family’s attorney. “To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous,” Castro said, adding that he would seek to hold ICE accountable.

A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said the infant was in stable condition and medically cleared for removal. She said pediatricians provided the parents with a nasal saline spray and bulb syringe to continue treatment. McLaughlin said US Border Patrol apprehended the child’s mother, Mireya Stefani Lopez-Sanchez, after she crossed the border illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 21. According to McLaughlin, Lopez-Sanchez chose to take the child with her when she was transferred to ICE custody, and her immigration claims were later rejected by a judge.

McLaughlin said a judge issued Lopez-Sanchez a final removal order on Feb. 8, and she and her child were deported on Tuesday after what DHS described as full due process.

The detention of children by US immigration authorities has drawn increased scrutiny during the immigration enforcement crackdown under President Donald Trump’s administration. Court filings last year said families and monitors at federal detention facilities reported contaminated food and inadequate access to medical care and legal counsel. The filings also alleged that hundreds of immigrant children remained in federal detention beyond court-mandated limits, including some held for more than five months.

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