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hey came home from school to find their father missing.
It had started off like
any other day. As usual, Ronald Soza dropped off his kids Cesia, 17, and
Ronald Jr., 14, at school in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Ronald Soza returned home
to find U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents waiting
for him at his doorstep. Soza, an undocumented immigrant from Nicaragua,
was taken to a detention center.
When the teens -- both
legal residents -- came home to an empty house at the end of the day,
they realized something was very wrong.
Then the phone rang. It was their father, trying to reassure them that everything would be OK.
"Even though we knew my
father might get deported, we never thought that it would actually
happen, especially since ICE already took our mother away five years ago," Cesia told CNN.
But it did happen. Ronald Soza was deported to Nicaragua, joining his wife, Marisela.
Suddenly, the teens'
parents were gone and the Soza children faced a frightening future with
foster families and unfamiliar schools.
It's been weeks since that terrible day last September, and they still haven't seen either of their parents.
The Soza kids "were
devastated after their mother was deported," said Nora Sandigo, a family
friend and immigrant rights activist. Now, they're "living a tragedy
... they've lost everything, their parents, home... everything." Now
they're living with Sandigo and her husband and two girls in Miami.
ICE told CNN in a
written statement that Soza was arrested last year and was allowed to
return home under certain conditions, such as attending appointments
with immigration authorities. But while under supervision, Soza
committed 39 violations, including failure to attend appointments with
immigration authorities, according to ICE.
Cesia said her father
was overwhelmed with his single-dad duties. He did attend his ICE
appointments, she said, although "it's possible he arrived a few minutes
late. But perhaps they counted that a no-show."
The siblings represent
America's young legal residents who are at risk for long-term emotional
trauma because of a system that doesn't deal with the situation. About
5,100 U.S. children in 22 states have lost parents to deportation,
according to the Applied Research Center -- a 30-year-old racial justice think tank. Some 15,000 more face similar threat in the next five years.
These families live in
constant fear of deportation as their kids attend school and pledge
allegiance to the flag. Constantly worrying that their parents will be
snatched away, children often feel angry, helpless and trapped.
Families like the Sozas
are referred to by the system as "mixed-status families." Ronald Jr. was
born in the United States. Cesia -- who was born in Nicaragua -- lives in the U.S. legally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA grants two-year reprieves from deportation to undocumented youths who came to the U.S. as children.
At their father's
request, Sandigo has become the Sozas' legal guardian. She receives no
government funds to offset the cost of raising them.
Making ends meet isn't
easy. The Soza teens rely on whatever their parents can send from
Nicaragua. It's not much. Their father -- who works in construction --
says he has had a difficult time finding a job since moving there.
"We've had to leave
everyone we knew behind, switch schools, and we're constantly trying to
catch up in our new school," said Cesia. In the middle of all the chaos,
she's been juggling paperwork for her immigration status while filing
applications to several universities. Another problem: being under
Sandigo's guardianship may threaten Cesia's ability to qualify for
college financial aid.
"It's been really stressful doing all this without my parents," she said. "I miss them so much."
But the siblings have
managed to hold on to a few reminders of their former life: some family
photos and their precious Chinese Shar-Pei, Snoopy. They talk to their
parents on the phone every day. Cesia says it doesn't come close to
having them by her side.
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