Border agents are trying to deport a mother who just gave birth in Arizona, while also blocking her from speaking to an attorney inside the hospital. The woman faces immediate deportation without going before an immigration judge under expedited removal, a law that has existed long before the current Trump administration. The woman’s infant, a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment, could remain lawfully in the country even if the mother is deported.
Government officials told a reporter: “It is the mother’s choice whether the child stays with the mother, or remains in the US”—implying that the mother may be forced to leave her days-old infant in the United States or be deported together.
The immigration attorney in this story is Luis Campos, and he joined me for a conversation about what’s happening today. This conversation provides important real-time information that helps us learn more about the Trump administration’s stance toward migrant women and children.
Thank you, Luis, for your time. As Luis says in the discussion, he can be reached for comment and discussion at camposlex@me.com.
This story is unfolding in real time, which means there is much to learn. This discussion is not intended to be the definitive version of what’s happening right now. But since this story raises so many controversial legal, ethical, and political questions about the practice of immigration enforcement right now, I feel that it’s important to bring more people into this story as a part of my efforts to foster public dialogue.
Among other things, this story illustrates a situation in which the Trump administration believes that the child—a U.S. citizen by birth according to the 14th Amendment—should not receive citizenship. I wrote about Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship here.
The story was made public by Tucson.com, who published a story just a few hours ago. Read the story “Border agents posted at Tucson maternity ward to quickly deport migrant mom” by Emily Bregel for Tucson.com.
Some people online have already cited an article from The Onion published just days ago titled ICE Agents Wait At Edge Of Delivery Table To Deport Newborn.
I apologize that I already sent you two other emails today—including major updates and an upcoming event with author Sarah Towle—but this post is really important.
I’m speaking at a conference today so I could really use some help sharing this post publicly so that more people are aware of what’s happening. Please help me push this out!
Update on May 3, 2025 at 3:18 PM: The Pima County Attorney just released a statement that the mother has been united with her child and that they have both been released to the care of a local NGO.
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