Rights groups say they're documenting family separation cases among mothers deported to Honduras

A new report from a pair of human rights groups looks at the experiences of Honduran mothers who've been deported from the U.S. and separated from their children.

Authors with Physicians for Human Rights and the Women’s Refugee Commission interviewed women in November who’d recently been deported to Honduras.

Michele Heisler, medical director with Physicians for Human Rights, says during their visit to the country, her team spoke with 21 mothers whose children were still in the U.S.

“Of those mothers, 13 reported that they had not been given the opportunity to ask whether their children could join with them,” she said. “All we can say is that these are the experiences of the people we interviewed. And during the days we were there, more than half of the mothers separated from children in the U.S. had not been given the opportunity to bring their children.”

Heisler said in some cases, women said they’d even asked to bring their children with them, but had still been sent without them.

Some 6,000 immigrant children were separated from their parents during the first Trump administration’s zero tolerance policies at the border.

Heisler said unlike during that policy, many of the women being deported now have been in the U.S. for years and may have children who are U.S. citizens.

She said despite the report’s small sample size, the psychological impacts of family separation are well known.

In response to questions about the report and ICE’s deportation practices, Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the agency does ask parents if they want to be removed with their children or if they would like them to be placed with a designated safe person.

The spokesperson said people without documentation in the U.S. should self deport using the CBP Home app.

The government-run smartphone app was originally set up under the Biden administration to allow asylum seekers to apply for a fixed number of appointments at a border crossing to be able to enter the U.S. and pursue an immigration case.

Immigrants have been barred from accessing the asylum system at the border since January.