AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin family — including two children who are U.S. citizens — was deported last week after a traffic stop. Whether the family has been separated in the process is now in question.

According to Grassroots Leadership, Denisse Parra Vargas and her partner were stopped outside of Dobie Middle School on April 30 and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They were later deported to Reynosa, Mexico.

In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that Parra Vargas chose to bring her children — ages 8, 5 and 4 — with her to Mexico when she was taken into ICE custody.

But Grassroots Leadership says ICE knowingly deported the children despite two of them being U.S. citizens and their whereabouts are currently unknown.

The organization says ICE also didn’t allow communication from family members who were willing to keep the children, who were allegedly detained in "secretive locations" for 24 hours before being deported to Mexico.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Grassroots Leadership and Texas Civil Rights Project will hold a media call on the case on Friday, May 9.