MIRAMAR, Fla. – There are growing concerns from some immigrant families living in South Florida over what consequences they may face under President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration.
Local 10 News’ Christian De La Rosa spoke to one of them on Wednesday night.
She asked to be called by only her first name.
“How do you feel in this moment?” asked De La Rosa.
“It’s hard not to feel hopeless,” said Lorena.
Lorena is a dreamer, currently protected by deferred action status, but her mother is one of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
Families like hers are now bracing for what may be to come.
“I’m really scared for our community right now,” she said.
Trump’s newly appointed Border Czar Tom Homan is now in charge of leading Trump’s calls for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, starting on day one.
“You better start packing now,” said Homan. “Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority.”
The former Immigration Customs Enforcement Director who signed off on family separations in Trump’s first Presidency was asked if splitting parents from their children can be avoided this time, in the case of mixed status families.
“Of course there is,” he said. “Families can be deported together.”
De La Rosa also spoke to immigration Attorney Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez.
“It’s not my first Trump rodeo,” said Movasshagui-Gonzalez. “Do I believe that he is going to enforce what he says he is going to do? Absolutely. Now, in the level of what can be done may be out of his control.”
Movasshagui-Gonzalez trusts the Trump administration will first focus on undocumented immigrants with criminal records and removal orders, but stresses, undocumented families, especially those with mixed legal status, must be prepared.
“Prepared financially, prepared with your documentation, prepared with evidence of how long you’ve been here,” he said.
Lorena points to the rhetoric she heard for months coming from the Trump campaign as she prepares for whatever the next four years may bring.
“When it comes to the bottom of it, they put us all in the same boat,” she said. “At this point I have no faith.”