Two families boarded a flight from Miami International Airport this week for Guatemala — one choosing to leave the United States rather than risk being separated by immigration authorities, the other reuniting children with their mother after her deportation.
A Lake Worth Beach mother told the Palm Beach Post she decided to self-deport with her two children after watching immigration authorities detain her cousin. She said she had spent two years afraid to go to work, the grocery store, or church — and was even too frightened to enroll her daughter in preschool.
She traveled with two U.S.-born siblings who had been driven nearly 700 miles from South Carolina to reunite with their mother, deported eight months ago after a traffic stop.
The Lake Worth Beach nonprofit Guatemalan-Maya Center, which coordinated both journeys, says it has helped reunite 59 children with deported parents since 2025. This is a developing situation with ongoing enforcement changes; families should consult a qualified immigration attorney before making any decisions.
