Families split apart as some immigrants choose self-deportation over risk of detainment

President Donald Trump has doubled down on his goal to conduct mass deportations. ICE Agents continue detaining undocumented immigrants around the country, but there's a group of people not counted in his deportation numbers: the immigrants who are booking flights and choosing to leave on their own.

Back in January, Eyewitness News sat down with a father and son from Peru.

The father, Enrique, brought his son, Antonio, to the U.S. to escape the violence in their home country. Since Antonio entered as a minor, he has a protected juvenile visa allowing him to live legally in the U.S. His father does not.

"I feel sad because all my life I lived with my dad," Antonio said. "If he left, I would have to continue here for him, and for my family."

His fear has become a reality. His father self-deported over the past month. He booked a flight back to Peru instead of facing the possibility of being detained by ICE.

"It's difficult to know that when you try to help someone, there's only so much you can do," said their attorney Veronica Cardenas, a former ICE prosecutor who's now defending immigrants in court. "People don't know what the law is right now and they're scared of being detained at an ICE check in, at the supermarket, at the gym."

On the federal government's website, there's a self-deportation fact sheet. It states "if you don't self-deport, it's not a matter of if ICE finds you, it's a matter of when."

There are no stats or records tracking how many non-citizens are choosing to self-deport, but Cardenas said it's happening across the Tri-State and across the country.

"They don't want to be put into detention and they don't want to be shipped out to a country that's not theirs," Cardenas said.

Before Enrique flew out of Newark Liberty International Airport, two of his dreams became a reality. He watched his son graduate from high school and receive his acceptance letter to a college in the U.S.

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