MIAMI (AP) — During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border.
Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention inside the country.
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The two-year-old son of pregnant, asylum-seeker Yaoska peers out the window of the Miami-area motel room where he lives with his mother and brother, after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The two sons of pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska pass the time in the Miami-area motel room where the family is living after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside the Miami-area motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The two-year-old son of pregnant, asylum-seeker Yaoska hunts for a snack in the mini fridge of the Miami-area motel room where he lives with his mother and brother, after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside the Miami-area motel room where she and her two children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, shows how she prepares the corn-on-the-cob she sells, inside her South Florida apartment, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, after her infant son's father, who worked in construction, was detained and deported to Guatemala. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Two brothers are reflected in a ceiling mirror as they pass the time in the Miami-area motel room where they are living with their pregnant mother Yaoska after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Diapers and clothes fill the shelves of the apartment in South Florida where Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, front, lives with her two children and a roommate, after her partner Edgar was detained days after their son's birth and deported to Guatemala, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, holds her infant son, whose father Edgar was detained days after his birth and later deported to Guatemala, inside the South Florida apartment where she lives with her two children and a roommate, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, stands in the South Florida apartment where she lives with her two children and a roommate, after her partner Edgar was detained days after their son's birth and deported to Guatemala, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo, 39, hugs her five-year-old son inside the Miami-area motel room where she lives with her two children, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's sons, ages 5 and 3, color on the bed inside the Miami-area motel room where the trio live, all of whom have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A miniature Jesus figurine sits on a coloring book inside the Miami-area motel room where Jakelin Pasedo is living with her two sons, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son hunts for a snack in the mini fridge in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo is living with her two children, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son washes his hands in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo and her two children, who all have refugee status, are living, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Three recent migrants told The Associated Press that their journeys were sources of deep pain and uncertainty because they marked the possible start of permanent separation between loved ones. Associated Press photographers documented the human toll.
Jakelin Pasedo and her two young sons arrived in Miami in December 2024 and received refugee status while Pasedo cares for the boy and works cleaning offices. Their husband and father, Antonio Laverde, who left Venezuela in 2022, was arrested in June at his shared housing and detained for three months before asking to return to Venezuela. Fearing persecution if she goes back, Pasedo hopes to reunite with her husband in the U.S.
Amavilia crossed from Guatemala in September 2023 and cares for two young children — breastfeeding and waking at 3 a.m. to cook lunches she sells for $10 while also selling homemade ice cream and chocolate‑covered bananas door to door. Her husband Edgar, who had lived and worked in South Florida for over 20 years, was detained on a 2016 warrant and deported to Guatemala on June 8, leaving the family unable to pay rent and reliant on donations at first.
She and her husband declined to provide their last names because they are worried about repercussion from U.S. immigration officials.
Amavilia fears police, urges her daughter to stay calm, and keeps going “entrusting myself to God,” hoping to provide stability despite the uncertainty.
“I fell into despair. I didn’t know what to do,” said Amavilia, 31.
Yaoska, five months pregnant, lives in Miami with her two young sons, one a U.S. citizen, with a 24‑hour GPS supervision bracelet. She fled Nicaragua in 2022. Her husband, a political activist who faced threats and beatings at home, was detained at an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and failed his credible fear interview.
Yaoska spoke on condition of anonymity and requested the same for her husband to protect him from the Nicaraguan government.
He was deported after three months of detention. Yaoska’s work authorization runs until 2028, but she fears for her family’s future and struggles to find stable work.
“It’s so hard to see my children like this. They arrested him right in front of them,” Yaoska said, her voice trembling.
The two-year-old son of pregnant, asylum-seeker Yaoska peers out the window of the Miami-area motel room where he lives with his mother and brother, after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The two sons of pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska pass the time in the Miami-area motel room where the family is living after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside the Miami-area motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The two-year-old son of pregnant, asylum-seeker Yaoska hunts for a snack in the mini fridge of the Miami-area motel room where he lives with his mother and brother, after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside the Miami-area motel room where she and her two children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, shows how she prepares the corn-on-the-cob she sells, inside her South Florida apartment, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, after her infant son's father, who worked in construction, was detained and deported to Guatemala. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Two brothers are reflected in a ceiling mirror as they pass the time in the Miami-area motel room where they are living with their pregnant mother Yaoska after their father was deported to Nicaragua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Diapers and clothes fill the shelves of the apartment in South Florida where Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, front, lives with her two children and a roommate, after her partner Edgar was detained days after their son's birth and deported to Guatemala, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, holds her infant son, whose father Edgar was detained days after his birth and later deported to Guatemala, inside the South Florida apartment where she lives with her two children and a roommate, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Guatemalan migrant Amavilia, 31, stands in the South Florida apartment where she lives with her two children and a roommate, after her partner Edgar was detained days after their son's birth and deported to Guatemala, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo, 39, hugs her five-year-old son inside the Miami-area motel room where she lives with her two children, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's sons, ages 5 and 3, color on the bed inside the Miami-area motel room where the trio live, all of whom have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A miniature Jesus figurine sits on a coloring book inside the Miami-area motel room where Jakelin Pasedo is living with her two sons, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son hunts for a snack in the mini fridge in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo is living with her two children, who all have refugee status, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son washes his hands in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo and her two children, who all have refugee status, are living, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after their father requested to be sent back to Venezuela after months in immigration detention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
