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They discovered their location through a highway exit sign that unveiled their final destination: Alexandria, Louisiana.

Their journey continued in the cargo area of an government transport – their personal belongings seized and passports not returned. The mother and her two children with citizenship, including a child who is fighting stage 4 kidney cancer, lacked information about where immigration officials were directing them.

The apprehension

The family members had been apprehended at an required meeting near New Orleans on April 24. Following restrictions from consulting their attorney, which they would subsequently allege in official complaints ignored legal protections, the family was relocated 200 miles to this modest settlement in the heart of the region.

"They never told me where I was going," the mother explained, providing details about her situation for the premier instance after her family's case received coverage. "I was told that I couldn't ask questions, I asked where we were headed, but they offered no answer."

The forced departure

The 25-year-old mother, 25, and her minor children were forcibly removed to Honduras in the early morning hours the following day, from a small aviation facility in Alexandria that has emerged as a hub for large-scale removal programs. The location houses a distinctive confinement area that has been called a legal "black hole" by lawyers with clients inside, and it opens immediately onto an flight line.

While the detention facility contains solely male adults, confidential information indicate at least 3,142 females and minors have passed through the Alexandria airport on federal aircraft during the opening period of the present government. Certain people, like Rosario, are held in secret lodging before being removed from the country or relocated to other confinement locations.

Temporary confinement

The mother didn't remember which Alexandria hotel her family was brought to. "I just remember we entered through a garage entrance, not the front door," she stated.

"Our situation resembled prisoners in a room," Rosario said, noting: "My kids would move closer to the door, and the women officers would show irritation."

Health issues

The mother's young boy Romeo was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer at the age of two, which had metastasized to his lungs, and was receiving "ongoing and essential life-saving cancer treatment" at a children's healthcare facility in New Orleans before his detention by authorities. His female sibling, Ruby, also a citizen of the United States, was seven when she was detained with her family members.

Rosario "implored" guards at the hotel to grant access to a telephone the night the family was there, she reported in legal filings. She was eventually permitted one brief phone call 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 van with other individuals also held at the hotel.

Unknown to Rosario, her attorneys and supporters had searched throughout the night to identify where the two families had been kept, in an bid for legal assistance. But they were not located. The attorneys had made repeated requests to immigration authorities immediately after the arrest to stop the transfer and determine her location. They had been repeatedly ignored, according to official records.

"This processing center is itself already a black hole," said an expert, who is providing legal counsel in ongoing litigation. "But in situations involving families, they will typically not transport them to the primary location, but put them in secret lodging close by.

Court claims

At the center of the lawsuit filed on behalf of Rosario and other individuals is the allegation that federal agencies have violated their own regulations governing the care for US citizen children with parents facing removal. The directives state that authorities "must provide" parents "adequate chance" to make choices about the "wellbeing or relocation" of their minor children.

Immigration officials have not yet answered Rosario's allegations legally. The government agency did not respond to detailed questions about the claims.

The airport experience

"Once we got there, it was a mostly deserted facility," Rosario stated. "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 four and a half hours, watching other transports come with men shackled at their limbs.

"That segment was upsetting," she said. "My offspring kept questioning why everyone was restrained hand and foot ... if they were criminals. I told them it was just normal protocol."

The plane journey

The family was then made to enter an aircraft, official records state. At approximately this time, according to documents, an immigration field office director eventually responded to Rosario's attorney – notifying them a stay of removal had been denied. Rosario said she had not agreed ever for her two American-born offspring to be deported abroad.

Advocates said the date of the detention may not have been coincidental. They said the check-in – rescheduled three times without justification – may have been arranged to match with a removal aircraft to Honduras the following day.

"They seem to direct as many detainees as they can toward that facility so they can occupy the plane and remove them," commented a representative.

The aftermath

The entire experience has caused permanent damage, according to the court case. Rosario continues to live with concerns about exploitation and illegal detention in Honduras.

In a earlier communication, the Department of Homeland Security stated that Rosario "decided" to bring her children to the immigration check-in in April, and was inquired whether she preferred authorities to assign the kids with someone safe. The department also claimed that Rosario chose to be deported with her children.

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

Romeo, who has now become five years old, was could not obtain vital and necessary medical treatment in Honduras. He made a short trip to the US, without his mother, to proceed with therapy.

"Romeo's deteriorating health and the halt in his therapy have caused Rosario substantial worry and emotional turmoil," the legal action alleges.

*Names of individuals have been modified.