This story is a collaboration with WKNO-FM and the Institute for Public Service Reporting.
Immigration was a key topic and a critical factor for many voters during last fall’s presidential race.
As President Donald Trump promised ahead of the Nov. 5 election: “On day one I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in American history.”
Now, as he embarks on a second term, the president and his appointees are fulfilling a promise of mass deportations.
When I sat down to speak with Edwin, a college student, the memory of losing his father over a decade ago hit close to home.
“I remember going to the jail where they had him and we were behind the glass. We were all just crying ‘cause we knew, like, this is the last time we were gonna see him,” said Edwin, a U.S. citizen. We’re using his first name to protect his identity.
His father’s deportation to Mexico still hurts.
“It was definitely sad,” Edwin said. “I was around this man for seven years of my life and now he's just not there.”
Full disclosure: 20 years ago, my father was also removed from the country.
Whatever one’s views on curbing illegal immigration, the separation of families has, for years, complicated the work of law enforcement.
Tom Homan, President Trump’s “border czar” told News Nation that a historic deportation operation was needed because “we have no other option.”
Trump echoed that position later, adding that officials may try to deport entire families, presumably even members who are U.S. citizens.
“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” Trump said on Meet the Press. “So the only way you don’t break-up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”
The Center for Migration Studies estimates that 4.7 million families in the country live in a blended or mixed-immigration household -- some here legally, some not.
Experts say deporting U.S. citizens with their noncitizen family members would present legal problems for the current Administration.
Still, mass deportations have already disrupted lives and businesses as immigrant communities lower their public profile.
“Word gets out and it travels very quickly,” said criminal attorney Ann Schiller. “And that kind of thing scares them because you can be doing literally nothing wrong and your whole life can be ruined in two seconds.”
Over the last four years, about 4.4 million migrants and asylum seekers were removed or blocked by the Biden Administration, the highest number since George W. Bush was in office.
But President Trump hopes to close other pathways to legal residency. He recently signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents are here illegally. Since birthright citizenship is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment, the order still faces legal challenges.
Until it changes, the incentive to have a U.S.-born child remains. At age 21, he or she can sponsor parents and close relatives to live in the U.S., also known as chain migration.
But this means that, for decades, a mixed-status family risks separation. Edwin, like many others, knows the consequences first hand.
“It has been hard,” he said. “I always try not to think about it, and I know it would have been easier if my dad still was here to help us.”
According to a 2021 study published on the American Public Health Association’s website, children who have at least one parent deported are twice as likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
After meeting with Edwin, I reconnected with my own siblings over a shared memory we’ve long avoided talking about.
“What I remember that night, we were all crammed into that room,” said my brother, Esteban Tadeo, now 27. “I just remember hearing, like, someone banging on the door. I'm like, ‘Oh my God. What's going on?’”
We were a family of seven from Jalisco, Mexico, living in a rental home in Southern California. One moment we were sleeping, the next, immigration officers had raided the house looking for the previous occupants. My father had overstayed his tourist visa. He was placed in handcuffs.
My sister, Lizeth Tadeo, was 9 during the raid.
“I remember not feeling anything, but I remember looking at the officer. And I don't know if I waved or smiled thinking, ‘Oh, if he probably sees me -- like if he sees that I'm here -- like, he'll feel bad and not take Dad.”
But they did take him. Our family’s breadwinner was sent back to Mexico.
Lizeth tells me the experience taught her a life skill that so many in the immigrant community share.
“Not being afraid of asking for help,” she said.
For undocumented immigrants, help rarely comes from the federal government; it mostly comes from those around them who are willing to share what little they have.