A 10-year-old Venezuelan boy facing deportation proceedings in the United States appeared alone in immigration court in Texas while his mother remained in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"I was scared because it was my first time in court," Wilfredo Hoyos-Gomez told the Spanish-language outlet Univision after attending an immigration court hearing last week in Houston without legal representation.

Immigration authorities have detained more than 6,200 children during President Donald Trump's second term, according to data analyzed by the Marshall Project. Of those, more than 3,600 children have been deported from detention since the start of the administration, the analysis found.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek that the boy's mother, Nexoli Anyis Gomez Bracho, "CHOSE to illegally enter our country, CHOSE to bring her son with her, and CHOSE to commit a crime by resisting arrest."

Newsweek has contacted the boy's legal guardian for comment via GoFundMe and his mother's attorney by email.

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DHS Says Mother Entered US in 2023

DHS said Wilfredo and his mother entered the United States in August 24, 2023, after being released under the Biden administration following an immigration encounter.

The boy's mother was taken into ICE custody in late 2025 and has remained in detention ever since, Democratic Representative Joaquín Castro of Texas wrote on X.

Gomez Bracho is in federal custody at the Houston Contract Detention Facility in Texas, per the ICE detainee database.

She was arrested during a traffic stop in Houston, KABB reported. Both mother and son have a pending asylum case in the United States, the outlet said.

10-Year-Old May Be Deported to Ecuador

Castro said DHS is seeking to remove the child to Ecuador, a country he said Wilfredo had never been to. The congressman added that Gomez Bracho has a work permit and had been attempting to comply with immigration requirements.

"ICE must release her and stop its case to deport Wilfredo immediately. He should be treated like a kid—not a criminal," Castro wrote on social media.

Marife Mosquera, a former employer of Gomez Bracho, is serving as Wilfredo's legal guardian, Univision reported, as no immediate family members are available to accompany him in court.

"One of the fears is that ICE will absorb him, and that they will have to put him in detention or that he will be deported," Mosquera told the outlet.

"There is a risk that he will be deported to Ecuador, a country where he has no family. Wilfredo only has his mother," said a GoFundMe campaign created on Wilfredo's behalf.

Mosquera told Univision that a letter had recently arrived indicating that authorities had attempted to proceed with deporting Wilfredo to Ecuador. She also said she was informed that, because of his mother's detention, Wilfredo's immigration case was now being handled independently from hers.

A spokesperson for DHS said: "ICE's detainer on the illegal alien was honored following her arrest by local authorities. She will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her immigration proceedings. She CHOSE to place her son in the custody of a guardian. They will receive full due process."

"ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administrations' immigration enforcement," the spokesperson continued.

"'A 10-year-old represented himself in immigration court' is a dystopian statement that seems fake at first glance but is actually a relatively common occurrence in our absurd system," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on X.

Trump Halts Legal Aid for Migrant Children

In 2025, the Trump administration moved to terminate or suspend federal funding for legal representation programs for unaccompanied migrant children, halting services that had provided attorneys to tens of thousands of minors in immigration proceedings.

The decision sparked lawsuits from legal aid organizations, which argued the cuts violated federal protections for vulnerable children in immigration custody. A federal judge in California later issued a temporary order restoring funding while the case proceeds, finding that the suspension could cause significant harm to children without legal counsel.

The administration has since appealed and at times sought to delay or limit compliance with court rulings, leaving the program's long-term status unresolved as litigation continues.

Under Trump's flagship mass deportation policy, the administration has stepped up immigration enforcement by increasing ICE arrests while tightening access to legal immigration pathways, including asylum claims and humanitarian protections.

The hard-line policy shift has expanded detention and ramped up removal proceedings as officials move to limit eligibility and processing options at the border and within the United States. Critics say the changes are effectively restricting access to asylum and reducing due process protections, while supporters argue they are intended to strengthen immigration enforcement measures.