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The day before Trump’s inauguration, numerous immigrant families traveled to Nora Sandigo’s ranch seeking her assistance as a legal guardian for their children. Now, these same families are requesting she visit their residences to complete the necessary documentation.
This shift in behavior reflects a broader change among undocumented immigrants, who have modified their daily routines to minimize public exposure. Following Trump’s campaign promises of widespread deportations and the termination of several immigration programs, many are avoiding visits to advocacy offices and support centers.
The day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a dozen immigrant families came to Nora Sandigo's ranch to ask her to be a legal guardian of their children. Now they are insisting she come over to their homes to sign the necessary paperwork. https://t.co/zXtQIdxuKo
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) February 15, 2025
In recent weeks, Sandigo has fielded hundreds of calls from immigrant parents nationwide. She has visited at least 15 homes where parents have completed documentation authorizing her to represent their children at educational institutions, medical facilities, and legal proceedings in case of deportation. These powers of attorney also enable her to facilitate children’s travel for family reunification.
“Now people are telling us that they are afraid to go out on the street, that they are afraid to drive, that they are afraid that they will stop them on the street,” said Sandigo, a 59-year-old mother of two daughters who lives in Homestead, a city of about 80,000 people south of Miami. “They have asked me to go to where they are instead of them coming to me.”
According to White House reports, over 8,000 undocumented immigrants have been detained since Trump’s January 20 inauguration. ICE’s daily arrest average jumped from 311 during the Biden administration’s first year to 787 between January 23 and 31, though ICE has discontinued publishing daily arrest statistics.
In Homestead, where Mexican and Central American immigrants comprise a significant portion of the agricultural workforce, community behaviors have changed dramatically. Residents increasingly rely on neighbors for grocery shopping, day laborers no longer gather at Home Depot, and church attendance has declined.
“People have stopped coming, and when they come, they ask if the immigration officials came here,” said Elisaul Velazco, the owner of a clothing store downtown. “Everything is paralyzed. Sales have dropped by 60%.”
For years, Sandigo has helped immigrant parents prepare for potential family separation. Now, she conducts home visits instead of office appointments. During a recent Sunday, she processed documents for over 20 children across four households. While these documents don’t grant full guardianship or transfer parental rights, they allow Sandigo to make decisions on behalf of the children.
Most parents worry that without designated guardians, their children could enter foster care, leading to loss of parental rights and potential adoption by others.
“I don’t want my children to be taken away from me. If something happens to me, I want them with me,” said Julia, who had just signed guardianship papers for her youngest child after her husband’s recent detention.
Nora Sandigo, also known as the "Mama Warrior", takes care of kids whose parents have been detained in or deported from the US. pic.twitter.com/qFW85X6O78
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 18, 2018
Another mother, Albertina, expressed similar concerns while holding her infant. She requested Sandigo to care for her two eldest daughters in the U.S. while arranging for her four younger children to return to Mexico if deportation occurs.
Sandigo’s commitment to these families stems from personal experience. She fled Nicaragua at 16 when the Sandinista government seized her family’s farm. Now a U.S. citizen, she has served as guardian to over 2,000 children during the past 15 years, with 22 deportees’ children temporarily residing in her home.
“I feel empathy for them, solidarity, love for God. I want to do something,” she said.
