Did ice deport a 10-year old cancer patient?
Executive summary
Yes — multiple reputable news organizations and civil-rights groups reported that U.S. immigration authorities removed at least one 10‑ to 11‑year‑old U.S. citizen who had been treated for brain cancer when federal agents deported her undocumented parents to Mexico in February 2025, and separate reporting documents other cases of U.S. citizen children with cancer deported with family members; those accounts are the basis for lawsuits and public outcry [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. At the same time, government spokespeople have argued families consented to travel with parents, and ICE and administration officials dispute aspects of the plaintiffs’ narrative — a contested factual terrain now playing out in court and congressional inquiries [6] [7].
1. The incident at the center: a 10‑year‑old U.S. citizen with brain cancer removed to Mexico
Several outlets reported that in early February 2025 federal agents detained a family in Texas en route to medical care and later deported the undocumented parents and their U.S. citizen children — including a girl described as about 10 and recovering from brain cancer — to Mexico, where advocates warn she may lack access to the specialist treatment she had been receiving in the United States [1] [2] [4]. Local legal advocates and members of Congress subsequently visited the family in Mexico and said they are pursuing humanitarian parole to return the child for treatment, and reporting indicates the child had previously undergone surgery to remove a tumor [3] [5].
2. Parallel and subsequent cases: multiple U.S. citizen children with cancer flagged in removals
Reporting in spring and summer 2025 documented other, separate incidents in which U.S. citizen children with serious medical needs were deported with family members: a federal lawsuit filed in Louisiana alleges a 4‑ or 5‑year‑old boy with stage‑4 kidney cancer was deported to Honduras after ICE arrests there in April 2025, and civil‑rights groups such as the ACLU have said at least one child was removed without medication or consultation with treating physicians [8] [9] [10] [11]. These accounts led to legal filings alleging due‑process failures and violations of ICE policies [8] [12].
3. Conflicting official claims: consent, operational decisions, and denials
Trump administration officials and ICE spokespeople pushed back, saying parents chose to take children with them and asserting that suggestions ICE denied care are false and unfair to officers; administration surrogates argued the families “requested” to depart together [6] [7]. Attorneys for the families and civil‑rights groups counter that parents were pressured, isolated from counsel and family, given little time to arrange care, and in some instances physically prevented from making meaningful contact before flights — claims central to ongoing lawsuits and court interest [6] [10].
4. The legal and journalistic record: lawsuits, Congressional interest, and journalistic corroboration
The National Immigration Project and other law firms filed litigation alleging unlawful deportations and systemic breaches of procedure in Louisiana, and a Trump‑appointed judge ordered hearings after receiving filings suggesting possible deportation of a U.S. citizen without meaningful process [8] [9] [11]. Major news organizations (NBC, Washington Post, Houston Public Media) and advocacy groups (ACLU) independently reported on the Texas/Mexico case and the Louisiana/Honduras allegations, creating a consistent media record even as some factual details — such as the precise ages cited in different stories — vary between reports [1] [2] [3] [8] [12].
5. What can be said with confidence, and where reporting is limited
It is established in contemporaneous reporting that a U.S. citizen child roughly 10–11 years old who had been treated for a brain tumor was removed to Mexico with her parents after an early‑February encounter with federal agents, and that advocates are seeking humanitarian parole for her return for treatment [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. It is also documented that separate cases involving U.S. citizen children with cancer being deported to Honduras prompted lawsuits and ACLU complaints alleging lack of medication and denial of access to doctors [8] [9] [10]. Where reporting diverges is on the circumstances of consent and operational choices by ICE — those are disputed by officials and litigants and remain unresolved in court [6] [10].