Parents ask: What happens to my child if I’m deported?

The questions started pouring in immediately.

Am I at risk of being detained even though I haven’t committed any offenses?

What should I say to ICE if they ask me about where I was born?

Will massive raids happen in public spaces?

As the Trump administration released its new immigration rules, immigrant rights groups tried to field an uptick in concerns. One of the most common: What happens to my child if I’m sent away?

In the U.S., there are roughly 5 million children under the age of 18 with at least one parent who’s living here illegally. About 79% of those adolescents are American citizens, according to Migration Policy Institute.

According to Pew, 10% of the 11.1 million immigrants who are living in the country illegally live in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. As those 1 million prepare for the possibility of a life upended, many are also preparing their children for the possibility of life without them.

Guadalupe Galindo, 46, has lived in the United States for 29 years. If she’s sent back to Mexico, she would leave her 10- and 8-year-old girls in the hands of her 24-year-old daughter. Though she says the distance would be painful, she won’t fathom an alternative.

“I can’t expose them to the dangers,” she said about life in her native country.

She’s kept her youngest in the dark, protecting them from worry. The weight of reality falls on her oldest’s shoulders.

“It’s one thing being a sister, and it’s another thing to take responsibility like a mother,” Galindo said. “Like taking them to school, and like a mother, representing them in everything.”

For others, separation isn’t an option.

Castillo (who did not give his last name) is a father of two – one 5-year-old and one just shy of two. If deported to El Salvador, he and his wife plan to leave the children with someone in America who could send them on later, aware of what that might mean for their future.

“They’ll be living a different life than the one they deserve here. They were born here,” he said.

Immigrant rights organizations have been actively distributing and notarizing guardian slips to help families prepare for such a scenario. Parents are instructed to write down the names of those they’d trust to watch over their children. If deported or detained, their child would become the immediate responsibility of one of the listed.

According to Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of communications for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, CHIRLA has passed out at least 250 guardian slips in the three weeks since reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps circulated. Last year, they handed out about 25 in total.

The decision of who to grant with guardianship is not made easily. For parents of disabled children, it’s foreboding.

One couple spoke anonymously through their lawyer, Erika Pinheiro of immigrant rights groups CARECEN. The father, originally from Mexico, and mother, originally from Central America, worry most about their middle child – a 10-year-old with learning disabilities and mental health issues. His mother tells Pinheiro that present stress has brought back some issues previously kept under control.

“He’s been shaking and crying. He doesn’t want to sleep by himself anymore. He’ll wake up and want to sleep with his parents,” Pinheiro said, translating the parents’ Spanish to English.

At a recent “Know Your Rights” workshop at CHIRLA, the room typically filled with a couple dozen Latinos trying to understand what they should and should not do or say if stopped by ICE officers was packed and brimming with kids.

Some were too young to understand the growing fear of deportation their mothers and fathers faced. Others were old enough to know all too well. While the smallest played with toy trucks and tumbled at their parents’ feet, those teetering between tween and teen sat patiently. One girl steadfastly took notes, as her mom and dad listened intently to instructions at the edge of their seats.

Maria Rosas, a 36-year-old mother of four boys attended the meeting to figure out a plan. She has already told her children not to be afraid. If she and her husband are deported, they won’t leave them behind.

“Whatever happens, we’ll always be together.”

Shortly after the Trump administration released its new immigration rules, we asked immigration rights groups what type of questions they’ve received. Now we want to hear from you. Do you or a family member fear deportation or detention? Tell us what questions you’ve been asking. Tell us in the comments.

Steve Saldivar contributed to this report.

colleen.shalby@latimes.com

Twitter: @cshalby

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