Fact Check: "Trump deported a 10 year old girl with cancer"
What We Know
The claim that a 10-year-old girl with cancer was deported under the Trump administration stems from reports about the deportation of several children, including one with a serious medical condition. According to the BBC, three U.S. citizen children, one of whom is a four-year-old with Stage 4 cancer, were deported to Honduras alongside their mothers. The deportation occurred after the families were detained during a routine immigration check in New Orleans. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has raised concerns about the circumstances of the deportation, indicating that the children were sent without access to necessary medical care (BBC).
In another case, a 10-year-old girl who was recovering from brain cancer surgery was also reported to have been deported to Mexico with her family. This incident occurred when the family was traveling to a medical appointment. The family had previously passed through the same immigration checkpoint without issues (NBC News). The Texas Civil Rights Project confirmed that while the girl was recovering from surgery, she was not specifically diagnosed with brain cancer but had undergone a procedure to remove a tumor (Snopes).
Analysis
The claim that "Trump deported a 10-year-old girl with cancer" is partially true, as it conflates two separate incidents involving children with serious medical conditions. The four-year-old with Stage 4 cancer was indeed deported, but the 10-year-old girl mentioned in the claim was recovering from brain surgery, not cancer per se.
The reliability of the sources is mixed. The BBC and NBC News are reputable news organizations that provide detailed accounts of the events, while the ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project are advocacy groups that highlight potential injustices in immigration enforcement. However, the claims made by these organizations should be assessed critically, as they may have inherent biases in their portrayal of immigration policies and practices (BBC, NBC News).
Moreover, statements from officials like Tom Homan, who served under the Trump administration, assert that the deportations were a result of parental decisions rather than government actions (BBC). This adds complexity to the narrative, as it suggests that the deportations were not solely a result of Trump's policies but also involved the choices made by the families.
Conclusion
The verdict on the claim is "Partially True." While it is accurate that a child with a serious medical condition was deported during Trump's administration, the details surrounding the specific cases are nuanced. The four-year-old with cancer was indeed deported, but the 10-year-old girl was recovering from surgery for a brain tumor, not cancer itself. The conflation of these incidents can lead to misunderstandings about the nature of the deportations and the policies in place at the time.
Sources
- Ranking Member Raskin's Statement on the Trump Administration's Heartless Policies
- Three US citizen children, one with cancer, deported to Honduras
- What we know about alleged deportation of 10-year-old U.S. citizen
- Deported family of child recovering from brain tumor
- U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with family
