Thousands of Families Separated as U.S. Immigration Enforcement Intensifies

More than 5,000 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border during President Donald Trump’s first term under a zero-tolerance policy, and a renewed wave of immigration enforcement inside the United States is again dividing families, officials and relatives say.

Enforcement Inside the U.S. Is Driving New Separations

Border crossings have fallen to record lows nearly a year into the administration’s second term, yet federal authorities and local law enforcement partners are detaining tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants inside the country. Detainees are frequently transferred between facilities, held for weeks or months in poor conditions, and later deported or pressured to return home.

Federal data show the government was holding an average of more than 66,000 people in November, the highest level on record. During the previous administration, separations at the border were compounded by agencies’ inability to track children in a sprawling shelter system because key computer systems were not connected. Today, many parents already inside the United States are arrested and detained for extended periods, producing prolonged or permanent separations. In other cases, adults are deported while children remain in the U.S., sometimes after years or decades of family life here.

“We’re going to keep doing it, full speed ahead,” Tom Homan, the president’s top border adviser, told reporters in April, reflecting the administration’s commitment to aggressive enforcement.

Three Families, One Human Cost

The Associated Press documented the experiences of three families separated by recent enforcement actions in South Florida. Their accounts illustrate how immigration policy and enforcement can produce anguish, economic hardship and long-term uncertainty.

Antonio Laverde crossed into the U.S. in 2022, later obtained work authorization and a Florida driver’s license, and worked as an Uber driver in Miami. His wife, Jakelin Pasedo, and their two sons joined him in December 2024 and received refugee status; Laverde did not. Early one June morning, federal agents arrested him at his shared housing, an operation Pasedo says stemmed from mistaken identity. Officers cuffed Laverde at gunpoint while the couple’s young sons cried for their father. Laverde was held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach; after roughly three months in custody he asked to return to Venezuela in September. Pasedo, who fears persecution if she returns, remains in Miami working as a cleaner and hopes to reunite with her husband in the United States.

Yaoska and her husband fled Nicaragua in 2022 after the husband, a political activist, received threats and was beaten by police. The couple received immigration parole when they arrived, applied for asylum and had a second son who is a U.S. citizen. In late August, family members accompanied Yaoska to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office; her husband was detained, later failed a credible fear interview, and after three months at the Krome Detention Center was deported to Nicaragua. Yaoska was released under 24-hour GPS supervision. She says her children are anxious, often ill, and wake asking for their father. Although her work authorization is valid through 2028, she describes a precarious future and difficulty finding work.

Edgar left Guatemala more than two decades ago and built a life in South Florida with Amavilia, another undocumented migrant. After local police arrested him on a 2016 warrant for driving without a license, he was transferred to immigration custody at Krome and deported to Guatemala on June 8. Amavilia expected a short local detention but instead lost her partner and primary provider. She struggled to pay rent, received short-term help from immigrant advocates, and now cares for two children while selling homemade food to make ends meet. Her daughter has grown fearful around police, and the family faces ongoing economic and emotional strain.

Wider Implications

These cases underscore how U.S. enforcement — both at the border and inside the country — continues to separate families, create lasting uncertainty and impose heavy burdens on parents and children left behind. Advocates warn that repeated transfers, prolonged detention and limited pathways to reunification risk producing permanent family ruptures even when some relatives have legal authorization to remain.

Named Facilities: Broward Transitional Center (Pompano Beach) and Krome Detention Center were cited in these cases; both facilities have been the focus of past concerns about conditions and treatment of detainees.