Parents detained by ICE, four U.S. citizen siblings left to fend for themselves
Jul 25, 2026 · Palm Beach County, FL, Guatemala

Four U.S. citizen siblings—Eliza, 21; Jessica, 18; Romeo Jr., 15; and Cynthia, 13—have been living on their own in Florida since last fall when both their parents, who are from Guatemala and undocumented, were detained by ICE. Their father was held at Alligator Alcatraz and then transferred to a detention center in Georgia, while their mother was held at a federal facility in Arizona. Eliza dropped out of college to take over the family landscaping business and pay rent, while the children await the outcome of their mother's deportation hearing. According to the Brookings Institution, approximately 205,000 children—including 145,000 U.S. citizens—have likely had a parent detained in the past year and a half due to immigration enforcement actions.
Sources
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