A Durham-area family of four has been deported to Honduras, officials said. The family had been seeking asylum since 2022, according to Siembra N.C., an immigrant advocacy group. They went to Charlotte for an administrative appointment Monday when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the group said. The family — Nelson Ramon Espinoza Sierra, Dacia Mariela Pacheco Galindo, Genesis Espinoza Pacheco, 11, and Denis Espinoza Pacheco, 6 — was complying with the asylum process, Siembra N.C. said, but federal authorities said a deportation order was issued after the family missed a hearing. "They received full due process and had no pending asylum claims or immigration applications," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. Advocates at a news conference Thursday said the family was detained during an administrative appointment and rejected the idea that they received due process. “What has happened is profoundly wrong,” state Sen. Sophia Chitlik said. “None of this is normal. None of it is acceptable,” she said. “And we will not stand in silence while children are kidnapped and deported without due process.” Homeland Security said the family entered the U.S. illegally in 2021. "This illegal alien family unit was issued a final order of removal by a judge after they failed to show up for their immigration hearing,” Homeland Security said. “They were returned to their home country of Honduras together." The two children attended Burton Magnet Elementary School in southeast Durham, Siembra N.C. said. “They came here seeking a better life,” said Chitlik, a Democrat who represents much of Durham. “They found community.” Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.