What’s a mother to do?

Elizabeth Vazquez

March 8, 2017

Veronica Coban, 35, walks with her son, 5-year-old Jaden, and carries her 1 year-old daughter, Allison, after paying electricity and gas bills on Feb. 22, 2017 in Huntington Park, Calif. Coban said, “I haven’t been out in almost a week,” she said. “I’ve been afraid to come out.” The other day my friend said ICE came knocking at her door. She didn’t open it but that made me anxious.” Coban said she has been in the country for 11 years. She said her husband is also in the country illegally. She doesn’t work. Her husband collects metal to recycle. Photo Credit: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS

There are 20 million immigrant women who migrate from every part of the world and 11.1 million immigrants are undocumented, which is why President Trump’s executive order has caused fear within the immigrant community.

Trump signed the order in January, which has increased border security and immigration enforcement that caused an influx of news about United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids (ICE).

The order also raises the question, “What happens to the children if their mother is deported?”

According to The Independent, children could be separated from their mothers when crossing the border illegally. The children would be put under protective custody until a U.S. relative could take them.

“Our community education and organizing departments are providing guardianship paperwork to folks and Know Your Rights cards,” said Perla Esquivel, a staff attorney for The Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

CHIRLA is an organization that helps immigrants and their families. They recently released a film called “Know your rights,” which depicts stories of actual undocumented immigrants and what they need to do in case they are arrested or detained by ICE.

On Feb. 10, Guadalupe Garcia, an Arizona mother of two, was deported to Mexico after her immigration check-in. She was deported within 24 hours because of Trump’s immigration orders.

Many families are dealing with difficult situations where they need to think ahead about finding legal help, financial help, and their immigration status.

An organizer for CHIRLA, Maru Galvan, explains how the organization provided attorneys’ phone numbers throughout the valley.

“We are having reunions to inform families on their rights,” Galvan said in Spanish. ”We are telling them to be prepared with all of their documentation just in case their children have to stay with someone.”

Organizations like CHIRLA are helping immigrant families understand their rights and obtain legal assistance.

“If the parents are detained and the children have to stay, it’ll be someone they trust,” Galvan said. “We also tell them to have a plan and to save money.”

According to the Migration Policy institute, 17.5 million children 18 and younger in the U.S. have at least one immigrant parent.

“We are leaving the phone numbers of lawyers around the valley so that they can contact them and leave with them a G28 form so that they can be represented if they are detained,” Galvan said.

A G28 form indicates that an immigrant is being represented by an attorney.

Some organizations that aim to help immigrants are groups like Immigrant defense project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center and National immigration Center.