U.S. citizen children, including 4-year-old with cancer, taken to Honduras on mom's deportation flight, legal advocates say

Two U.S. citizen children were sent on their mother’s deportation flight to Honduras without the opportunity to speak with attorneys, leaving a 4-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancer without access to his medication, according to the National Immigration Project.

Two U.S. citizen children were sent on their mother’s deportation flight to Honduras without the opportunity to speak with attorneys, leaving a 4-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancer without access to his medication, according to the National Immigration Project.

Gracie Willis, an attorney with the organization, told NBC News that the boy and and his 7-year-old sister were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday. They were taken to El Paso, Texas, and flown to Honduras first thing Friday morning, Willis said.

The 4-year-old boy, who was actively receiving treatment for a rare form of cancer, was flown to Honduras without his medication, according to Willis and the National Immigration Project.

Attorneys were preparing a habeas corpus petition when the children were taken out of the U.S. on an ICE charter flight before the petition could be filed, Willis said.

Attorney Erin Hebert, who Willis said is representing the family, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In a press release by the National Immigration Project, Hebert called the removal of U.S. children “illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral.”