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It was a interstate indicator that disclosed their end point: Alexandria, Louisiana.

They were transported in the rear compartment of an government transport – their possessions seized and identification retained by authorities. Rosario and her two children with citizenship, including a child who battles metastatic kidney disease, remained unaware about where federal agents were directing them.

The detention

The family unit had been detained at an federal appointment near New Orleans on April 24. When denied access from consulting their attorney, which they would later claim in court filings violated their rights, the family was moved 200 miles to this rural town in the state's interior.

"They never told me where I was going," she recounted, answering inquiries about her experience for the premier instance after her family's case gained attention. "They instructed me that I couldn't ask questions, I questioned our location, but they offered no answer."

The forced departure

Rosario, 25, and her young offspring were involuntarily deported to Honduras in the pre-dawn period the following day, from a regional airfield in Alexandria that has become a center for large-scale removal programs. The location houses a specialized holding facility that has been referred to as a legal "void" by attorneys with people held there, and it connects directly onto an airport tarmac.

While the detention facility accommodates only male adults, leaked documents indicate at least 3,142 mothers and children have been processed at the Alexandria airport on federal aircraft during the initial three months of the current administration. Some individuals, like Rosario, are confined to unidentified accommodations before being sent abroad or moved to other holding facilities.

Lodging restrictions

Rosario could not recall which Alexandria hotel her family was taken to. "My recollection is we accessed via a vehicle access point, not the main entrance," she recalled.

"We were treated like captives in accommodation," Rosario said, explaining: "The young ones would try to go toward the door, and the women officers would show irritation."

Health issues

The mother's child Romeo was identified with metastatic kidney disease at the age of two, which had metastasized to his lungs, and was receiving "ongoing and essential cancer care" at a children's healthcare facility in New Orleans before his apprehension. His sister, Ruby, also a citizen of the United States, was seven when she was detained with her family members.

Rosario "pleaded with" guards at the hotel to permit utilization of a telephone the night the family was there, she reported in official complaints. She was finally allowed one short conversation to her father and notified him she was in Alexandria.

The nighttime investigation

The family was roused at 2 a.m. the subsequent day, Rosario said, and taken directly to the airport in a government vehicle with other individuals also detained at the hotel.

Unbeknownst to the mother, her lawyers and representatives had searched throughout the night to locate where the two families had been held, in an bid for legal action. But they could not be found. The attorneys had made repeated requests to immigration authorities immediately after the apprehension to prevent removal and determine her location. They had been regularly overlooked, according to legal filings.

"The Alexandria staging facility is itself fundamentally opaque," said a legal representative, who is representing Rosario in current legal proceedings. "But in situations involving families, they will frequently avoid bringing to the facility itself, but place them in unidentified accommodations near the facility.

Court claims

At the center of the lawsuit filed on behalf of Rosario and other individuals is the allegation that federal agencies have breached internal policies governing the treatment of US citizen children with parents under removal proceedings. The directives state that authorities "are required to grant" parents "sufficient time" to make choices about the "care or travel" of their minor children.

Government agencies have not yet addressed Rosario's legal assertions. The federal department did not answer specific inquiries about the claims.

The terminal ordeal

"Once we got there, it was a largely vacant terminal," Rosario recalled. "Just immigration transports were pulling up."

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

They were confined to the transport at the airport for over four hours, observing other transports come with men shackled at their limbs.

"That portion was upsetting," she said. "My children kept asking why everyone was restrained hand and foot ... if they were criminals. I said it was just part of the process."

The flight departure

The family was then compelled to board an aircraft, official records state. At around this period, according to records, an immigration local official ultimately answered to Rosario's attorney – notifying them a deportation delay had been refused. Rosario said she had not provided approval for her two citizen minors to be removed to Honduras.

Advocates said the date of the detention may not have been random. They said the appointment – changed multiple times without explanation – may have been timed to coincide with a transport plane to Honduras the next day.

"Authorities appear to funnel as many cases as they can toward that facility so they can populate the aircraft and deport them," explained a attorney.

The aftermath

The whole situation has resulted in irreparable harm, according to the legal action. Rosario continues to live with fear of extortion and kidnapping in Honduras.

In a earlier communication, the federal agency stated that Rosario "chose" to bring her children to the required meeting in April, and was questioned about authorities to place the children with someone secure. The agency also stated that Rosario elected departure with her children.

Ruby, who was unable to complete her school year in the US, is at risk of "educational decline" and is "undergoing serious mental health issues", according to the legal proceedings.

Romeo, who has now reached five years, was denied specialized and life-saving medical treatment in Honduras. He briefly returned to the US, without his mother, to continue treatment.

"Romeo's deteriorating health and the disruption to his treatment have created for the mother significant distress and emotional turmoil," the lawsuit claims.

*Names of family members have been altered.