A single dad living in Phoenix, Arizona for the last 20 years was deported to Mexico last Thursday. The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent Juan Carlos Fomperosa Garcia, 44, back to his native country after his annual check-in with the agency. He left three children, two of them minors, without any parent.
Yennifer Sanchez, the eldest daughter at 23, is temporarily taking care of her siblings, a 17-year-old brother and a 14-year-old sister, according to Inside Edition. The family, however, plans to fight the deportation order because Garcia has no grave criminal record and his work permit is in order.
The family believed the only reason their dad was deported was because of a prior deportation record years ago. Garcia apparently "previously repatriated to Mexico three times, including a formal deportation in 2014," according to an ICE statement, The Guardian reported.
Sanchez is pushed to work harder as a caregiver for her brother and sister without a parent to support the minors. Family members from Arizona are helping raise funds for the family as well, via YouCaring.
"They're going to keep going to school and I'm going to work," Sanchez said of their current situation. It's still unclear how the eldest sibling will be able to have legal guardianship should their father end up being permanently barred from entering the U.S. but immigration lawyers have dealt with similar situations like this before.
Five million minors have parents who are illegal immigrants in the U.S., according to the Migration Policy Institute. Cases of minors who are U.S. citizen but who could lose their parents are expected to increase under President Donald Trump's toughened immigration policy.
Children of immigrants whose parents could be deported might likely end up in the foster care system, especially if they do not have extended family in the U.S. capable of caring for them. Even so, the current process is deemed temporary and policies might change in the coming months.
