I am a Latin American preparing for Trump’s mass deportation of migrants | Close up | Digital series
Jorge Paz Reyes still remembers the feeling of those first few months in fifth grade after arriving in the United States from Honduras with his mother and three sisters. The adjustment was difficult.
“I cried every morning. To the point that my mother got tired of me,” he says, reflecting on their conversation. She sat me down and said: ‘Jorge, you can’t cry all the time. I can’t pick you up from school every day, otherwise I won’t be able to feed you.’”
Jorge, now an activist and community member at Mixteca—an organization that provides free health and education services to New York’s immigrant community—grew up in New York City as an undocumented child. Today, he has permanent residence and is seeking citizenship through a special program for minors. But several of his relatives remain undocumented and fear deportation under the incoming administration. “I have someone very close to me who is undocumented and I could lose her because of Donald Trump,” says Jorge, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportation.
Trump’s campaign promise to remove up to 12 million undocumented migrants has fueled widespread fear and anxiety, especially among millions of people who have been in the US for years and built careers, formed communities and families. After winning the election last November, Trump discussed using the US military to enforce his deportation plan, even declaring a state of emergency if necessary.
For activists like Jorge, who live and work closely with immigrant communities, this promise has become a palpable fear. Check out our latest Close up episode of “Trump’s Deportation Nation” to see how community members like Jorge prepare for the possibility of mass deportation.
Director: Taimi Arvidson
Producer: Leo Hamelin
Director of photography: Daniel Vergara
Additional Camera: Eric Arthur Fernandez, Nick Midwig
Writer: Tierney Bonini
Editors: Antonia Perello, Catherine Hallinan
Executive Producer: Tierney Bonini
Senior Editor: Donald Cameron
