Secretary of State Marco Rubio fired back Sunday over a “misleading headline” that claimed President Donald Trump’s immigration officials had “deported” three American citizens, all of whom are minor children.
Rubio took issue with the claim itself, telling “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker that the three children were citizens and had not been deported at all, explaining that they were welcome to return to the United States at any time and had only left because their mothers — who were in the country illegally — chose to take them along when they were deported.
WATCH:
.@SecRubio nukes @kwelkernbc on the latest misleading Fake News hoax: “Three U.S. citizens ages 4, 7, and 2 were not deported — their mothers, who were illegally in this country, were deported. The children went with their mothers! … The parents make that choice.” pic.twitter.com/IJt1Lz1xWN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 27, 2025
“On the headline, that’s a misleading headline,” Rubio protested. “Three U.S. citizens ages four, seven, and two, were not deported — their mothers, who were illegally in this country, were deported. The children went with their mothers!”
“If those children are U.S. citizens, they can come back into the United States if their father or someone here wants to assume them, but ultimately who was deported was their mothers, who were here illegally,” Rubio continued. “The children just went with their mothers. But it wasn’t like — you guys make it sound like ICE agents kicked down the door and grabbed the two-year-old and threw him on an airplane, that’s misleading! That’s just not true!”
Welker pushed back, asking whether it was the Trump administration’s official policy to “deport” American citizens if they were children whose parents were in the country illegally and thus subject to deportation.
“Is it the U.S. policy to deport children, even U.S. citizens, with their families — and I hear what you’re saying — without due process, just to be very clear?” Welker asked.
“No, no, no,” Rubio objected. “No, no, again: if someone’s in the country unlawfully, illegally, that person gets deported. If that person is with a two-year-old child, or has a two-year-old child, and says, ‘I want to take my child with me,’ well then what —? You have two choices. You can say, ‘Yes, of course you can take your child, whether they’re a citizen or not, because it’s your child.’ Or you can say, ‘Yes, you can go, but your child must stay behind.’”
Rubio noted that would create a whole new problem, saying, “And then your headlines would read, ‘U.S. holding hostage two-year-old, four-year-old, seven-year-old, while mother deported.’ The parents make that choice.”
