Sawt Falasteen - Deportation fears spur US migrants to entrust guardianship of their children

"I go out to work less and less, and I'm afraid that I won't come home to my children," Rosa told AFP. "It's not easy to explain this to them. My son waits for his dad to come home, and when he doesn't, he gets sad."

To avoid the possibility of her children being abandoned, the 32-year-old Guatemalan immigrant decided to grant legal guardianship of her kids to an activist, Nora Sandigo, who runs a foundation overseeing the custody of migrant children in Miami.

A growing number of undocumented migrants are granting legal guardianship of their children to entrusted allies in the United States.

The move gives the adult the power of attorney to sign documents for minors in schools, hospitals and courtrooms even if their parents are detained -- without the migrants giving up custody of their children.

The trend coincides with President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, with official data published this month showing more than 605,000 undocumented migrants have been deported from the United States since his return to the White House in January.

In Florida, host to a large undocumented population, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have increased arrests, detaining immigrants who often work in agriculture, hospitality or construction.

Rosa's husband, for instance, was working at a construction site when he was detained by ICE and transported to a detention facility in Texas, where he remains.

The couple hails from the northwest department of Huehuetenango in Guatemala, settling in Florida eight years ago for a chance at a better life.

The pair came with a daughter, now 11 years old, and had a son four years ago.

- 'Horrifying' -

The couple now joins hundreds of other families who have entrusted Sandigo with legal guardianship.

Born in Nicaragua and now a naturalized US citizen, Sandigo began taking in children from migrant families 15 years ago through her foundation, based in Miami.

She is currently the legal guardian of almost 350 minors born in the US and 137 children born outside of the country, and has been the guardian of more than 2,000 kids over the course of her career.

She and her two daughters have even lived with some of the children, some for months or years, after their parents were deported.

The 60-year-old told AFP she receives calls every day from parents asking her to become their children's legal guardian -- and that number "has grown spectacularly" in recent months.

"The new administration's arrival with a terrifying message of persecution for immigrants, causing great distress for children, has been horrifying," she said.

The night before Thanksgiving this year, she welcomed several families to her home on the outskirts of Miami.

Among them was Jessica, a 14-year-old US-born child of immigrants who has been brought under Sandigo's wing.

She told AFP that having undocumented parents and the uncertainty around it "makes me feel afraid" and sad.

"My biggest worry is that they will leave, and with them my future. Because if they leave, I'm going with them," she said with tears in her eyes.

Sandigo tries to comfort her, but she knows that the immigration crackdown is causing psychological trauma to Jessica's generation.

"I love kids and I want to be useful, to be able to help them, but not under these circumstances," she said.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST