News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Trump border czar defends removal of U.S. citizen children
by Ariana Figueroa, Virginia Mercury
April 29, 2025
WASHINGTON — White House border czar Tom Homan on Monday blamed the parents of U.S. citizen children the Trump administration sent to Honduras over the weekend.
At a Monday morning press conference, Homan defended the government’s actions to remove three young children from two different families alongside their mothers who were in the country without legal authorization but participated in a program that allows otherwise law-abiding migrants to stay in their communities.
“If you enter this country illegally, it’s a crime,” Homan said. “Knowing you’re in this country illegally, you put yourself in that position. You put your family in that position.”
The children, all under the age of 10, were placed on deportation flights to Honduras on Friday after their mothers checked in with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which allows immigrants to stay in their communities while undergoing immigration court proceedings.
An attorney for one of the children, Gracie Willis at the National Immigration Project, said the 4-year-old U.S. citizen with Stage 4 cancer was deported without access to his medication.
Homan has argued the mothers requested to be deported with their children, but attorneys for the families argue they were “denied access to legal counsel, and swiftly deported without due process.”
Due process concerns
U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, whom Trump appointed to a seat on the Louisiana federal bench in 2018, expressed concern that a 2-year-old U.S. citizen had been deported, despite her father’s wishes she remain in the U.S., according to court filings.
Doughty scheduled a May 16 hearing because of his “strong suspicion that the government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.”
“The government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her,” Doughty wrote in his order. “But the court doesn’t know that.”
Willis, from the National Immigration Project, raised concerns about a lack of due process and how the deportations have separated families.
“What we saw from ICE over the last several days is horrifying and baffling,” she said in a statement. “These mothers had no opportunity to speak with their co-parents to make the kinds of choices that parents are entitled to make for their children, the kinds of decisions that millions of parents make every day: ‘what is best for our child?’”
Homan has argued the children were deported at the request of the mothers and that the Trump administration was “keeping families together.”
“What we did is remove children with their mothers who requested their children depart with them,” he said. “When a parent says, ‘I want my 2-year-old baby to go with me,’ we made that happen. They weren’t deported. We don’t deport U.S. citizens. The parents made that decision, not the United States government.”
Wisconsin judge
Monday’s remarks from Homan come the day before President Donald Trump will mark the 100th day of his second term. His early days in office have centered on carrying out his campaign promise of mass deportations of millions of people in the U.S. without permanent legal status.
Trump will sign two executive orders on immigration late Monday: one relating to border security and another to require the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to publicly list so-called sanctuary cities that do not coordinate with federal immigration law enforcement.
Homan also stood by the Trump administration’s decision to arrest a federal judge in Wisconsin on the grounds she obstructed immigration officials from detaining a man attending his court hearing. It marked an escalation between the Trump administration and the judiciary branch, raising concerns from Democrats.
The arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan was highly publicized after she was handcuffed in public and FBI Director Kash Patel bragged about the arrest on social media.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News that the Trump administration was going to continue to go after judges who “think they’re above the law.”
“When you cross that line to impediment or knowingly harboring, concealing an illegal alien from ICE, you will be prosecuted, judge or not,” Homan said.
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
The post Trump border czar defends removal of U.S. citizen children appeared first on virginiamercury.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The content presents a primarily center-right perspective, as it highlights the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies and defends actions such as the deportation of children along with their mothers. It emphasizes law enforcement’s rationale for these actions and includes comments from Trump-appointed officials, reinforcing a conservative viewpoint. However, the article also includes substantial criticism from legal experts, advocates, and a federal judge expressing concerns about due process and family separation. These critiques introduce a more balanced view, leading to a center-right bias rather than a strictly right-wing stance.
News from the South - Virginia News Feed
What ‘El Boogie' FBI agent accused of Maryland rapes said in his defense | NBC4 Washington
SUMMARY: A Maryland FBI agent, Eduardo Valdivia, accused of sexually assaulting three women, testified in his defense, admitting to hiding evidence like condoms and wiping devices but insisting all encounters were consensual. Prosecutors allege he used the alias “El Boogie” and ran tattoo studios to lure women, promising modeling contracts before assaulting and filming them, then using the footage as blackmail. Valdivia described adult-themed photoshoots and claimed women were not forced, but victims said they felt trapped and scared. Previously acquitted of attempted murder, Valdivia now faces 18 charges, including felony rape, risking decades in prison. He is suspended without pay by the FBI.
Accused of rape, an FBI agent who went by El Boogie and Lalo Brown online testified in his defense. He called the encounters consensual but admitted to deleting photos and videos. News4’s Aimee Cho shares details from the courtroom.
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News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Staying muggy with storm chances increasing the rest of the week
SUMMARY: Staying muggy with storm chances increasing throughout the week. Expect hot, humid conditions with dew points in the mid-70s lasting through the weekend. Today will reach 94°F, with a heat advisory in effect around Richmond and eastward. Scattered thunderstorms are likely this afternoon into evening, producing downpours and some gusty winds, though storms will move rather than stall. Storm chances increase Friday and Saturday, with Saturday potentially having widespread storms. Overnight lows remain warm and muggy, around 77°F. A Gulf Coast system brings heavy rain to Louisiana but has only a 30-40% chance of becoming a named storm. Stay prepared for frequent afternoon storms.
Staying muggy with storm chances increasing the rest of the week
News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Prosecutors seek first-degree murder charge for Camari Warren
SUMMARY: Prosecutors have upgraded charges against Kamari Warren to first-degree murder for the 2023 death of Norfolk State University student Jahari George. Warren is accused of orchestrating a drive-by shooting that killed the 20-year-old. Prosecutors claim phone records and video show Warren coordinating the attack and signaling George’s car. Cameron Brown, charged with second-degree murder, allegedly pulled the trigger. Warren’s defense argues that another uncharged witness, cooperating for leniency, is the true mastermind. That witness is expected to testify soon. Warren’s trial is ongoing and set to continue through Friday.
Prosecutors claim Camari Warren orchestrated the murder of Jahari George while Warren’s attorney argues another witness masterminded the attack.
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