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They discovered their location through a interstate indicator that disclosed their ultimate location: Alexandria, Louisiana.

Their journey continued in the cargo area of an immigration enforcement vehicle – their personal belongings seized and identification held by agents. The mother and her two American-born children, one of whom battles advanced renal cancer, had no knowledge about where federal agents were taking them.

The apprehension

The household had been detained at an immigration check-in near New Orleans on April 24. Following restrictions from consulting their attorney, which they would eventually argue in court filings breached due process, the family was relocated 200 miles to this modest settlement in the state's interior.

"They never told me where I was going," the mother explained, providing details about her experience for the initial occasion after her family's case gained attention. "I was told that I must not seek information, I asked where we were headed, but they didn't respond."

The forced departure

The 25-year-old mother, 25, and her young offspring were forcibly removed to Honduras in the middle of the night the subsequent morning, from a small aviation facility in Alexandria that has become a center for large-scale removal programs. The site houses a distinctive confinement area that has been referred to as a legal "black hole" by lawyers with people held there, and it leads straight onto an flight line.

While the holding center accommodates only grown men, confidential information indicate at least 3,142 mothers and children have passed through the Alexandria airport on government charter flights during the opening period of the existing leadership. Some individuals, like Rosario, are held in secret lodging before being removed from the country or transferred to other holding facilities.

Temporary confinement

The mother didn't remember which Alexandria hotel her family was taken to. "My recollection is we entered through a parking area, not the main entrance," she stated.

"We were treated like detainees in lodging," Rosario said, noting: "My kids would try to go toward the door, and the female guards would become angry."

Treatment disruptions

Rosario's child Romeo was found to have stage 4 kidney cancer at the age of two, which had spread to his lungs, and was receiving "regular and critical life-saving cancer treatment" at a specialized children's hospital in New Orleans before his detention by authorities. His female sibling, Ruby, also a American national, was seven when she was taken into custody with her mother and brother.

Rosario "pleaded with" guards at the hotel to allow her to use a telephone the night the family was there, she claimed in legal filings. She was eventually permitted one limited communication to her father and told him she was in Alexandria.

The nighttime investigation

The family was woken up at 2 a.m. the next morning, Rosario said, and taken directly to the airport in a government vehicle with another family also confined in the hotel.

Without her knowledge, her lawyers and representatives had looked extensively after hours to find where the two families had been held, in an bid for legal assistance. But they were not located. The attorneys had made numerous petitions to immigration authorities immediately after the arrest to block the deportation and determine her location. They had been repeatedly ignored, according to official records.

"The Louisiana location is itself essentially a void," said an expert, who is handling the case in current legal proceedings. "But in situations involving families, they will often not take them to the facility itself, but put them in secret lodging near the facility.

Legal arguments

At the core of the litigation filed on behalf of Rosario and other individuals is the allegation that immigration authorities have ignored established rules governing the treatment of US citizen children with parents subject to deportation. The policies state that authorities "are required to grant" parents "adequate chance" to make decisions regarding the "care or travel" of their young offspring.

Government agencies have not yet responded to Rosario's allegations legally. The government agency did not answer detailed questions about the allegations.

The terminal ordeal

"Once we got there, it was a largely vacant terminal," Rosario remembered. "Just immigration transports were coming in."

"There were multiple vans with other mothers and children," she said.

They were confined to the transport at the airport for an extended period, observing other vans approach with men chained at their limbs.

"That portion was distressing," she said. "My children kept inquiring about everyone was shackled hand and foot ... if they were wrongdoers. I explained it was just part of the process."

The aircraft boarding

The family was then forced onto an aircraft, court filings state. At roughly then, according to filings, an immigration field office director eventually responded to Rosario's attorney – informing them a stay of removal had been refused. Rosario said she had not provided approval for her two US citizen children to be removed to Honduras.

Legal representatives said the date of the detention may not have been accidental. They said the check-in – postponed repeatedly without justification – may have been timed to coincide with a removal aircraft to Honduras the next day.

"They seem to direct as many individuals as they can toward that location so they can populate the aircraft and remove them," stated a attorney.

The consequences

The complete ordeal has resulted in lasting consequences, according to the legal action. Rosario persistently faces concerns about exploitation and abduction in Honduras.

In a prior announcement, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that Rosario "elected" to bring her children to the required meeting in April, and was inquired whether she preferred authorities to place the children with someone safe. The agency also asserted that Rosario elected departure with her children.

Ruby, who was didn't complete her school year in the US, is at risk of "academic regression" and is "facing substantial mental health issues", according to the litigation.

Romeo, who has now turned five, was denied specialized and life-saving medical care in Honduras. He briefly returned to the US, without his mother, to resume care.

"Romeo's deteriorating health and the halt in his therapy have generated for her tremendous anxiety and psychological pain," the lawsuit claims.

*Names of people involved have been changed.