Summary
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said U.S. immigration authorities deported a 2-month-old baby with bronchitis to Mexico along with his family, a claim the Department of Homeland Security disputed in a separate statement. Castro said the child had been unresponsive shortly before being discharged from a hospital, and he described the removal as a decision he said should not have happened. The Homeland Security spokesperson said the child was in stable condition and had been medically cleared for removal.
Castro said Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported the baby along with his 16-month-old sister, his mother and his father, adding that he confirmed the account with the family’s attorney. He said the child had been unresponsive “in the last several hours” but was discharged from the hospital anyway, according to Castro’s post on X.
“To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous,” Castro said in the post, and he vowed to “hold ICE accountable for this monstrous action,” according to the Associated Press reporting of his remarks.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that the child was in “stable condition and medically cleared for removal.” McLaughlin said pediatricians gave the parents a nasal saline spray and a nasal bulb syringe to continue care, and she said the baby would continue receiving that care after removal.
McLaughlin said Border Patrol apprehended the baby’s mother, Mireya Stefani Lopez-Sanchez, crossing the border illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 21. She said Lopez-Sanchez chose to take her child with her when Border Patrol transferred her to ICE custody.
McLaughlin said immigration officials determined Lopez-Sanchez’s claims were heard by a judge and found not to be valid. She said a judge issued Lopez-Sanchez a final order of removal on Feb. 8, and she said Lopez-Sanchez was removed from the U.S. with her child on Tuesday.
The case adds to scrutiny of how immigration authorities detain and remove children, particularly since President Donald Trump’s administration began an immigration enforcement crackdown. The Associated Press reporting referenced images from Minnesota last month of a 5-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and being surrounded by ICE officers, which prompted an outcry and led to the boy and his father being released shortly after on a judge’s order.
Castro said Lopez-Sanchez and the baby were held at a family detention center in Dilley, Texas. He said the family’s removal process and the medical discharge decision were central to his account.
Last year, court filings reported that families and monitors at federal facilities saw contaminated food and limited access to medical care or sufficient legal counsel, according to Associated Press reporting. Those filings also said hundreds of immigrant children lingered in federal detention beyond a court-mandated limit, including children held more than five months, the reporting said.
The Associated Press reporting described bronchitis as a lung condition in which airways become inflamed and cause coughing, citing information from the National Institute of Health.