Two Honduran mothers say ICE secretly detained them, denied them lawyers, and deported them to Honduras in April — taking four kids with them, three of whom are U.S. citizens. One of the children, a 4-year-old boy with stage 4 kidney cancer, allegedly had his medical treatment disrupted.

Filed in Louisiana federal court, the suit accuses ICE of breaking its own rules and violating multiple laws, claiming the parents were never given a real choice about whether their kids should stay in the U.S. ICE denies this, saying the mothers voluntarily took their children and that medical care is available in Honduras.

The case — JLV v. Acuna — comes amid a surge in deportation flights under the Trump administration, with over 1,000 flights to 62 countries since January. Immigrant advocates call the deportations cruel and unlawful, while DHS says it takes child safety “seriously.”