Increased immigration enforcement actions have led a suburban Waukegan family to make the difficult choice to self-deport to Mexico.
The two parents, who asked not to be identified by NBC Chicago, are both in the country without legal status, and have been in the U.S. for more than 27 years. Their two children, both born in the U.S., are citizens, but will soon move to Mexico, away from the only life they have ever known.
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WATCH HEREThe parents blame the growing pressures of immigration enforcement, economic instability and legal uncertainty for their decision to relocate to Mexico before the start of the new school year.
“We’ve been here for 27 years,” the family’s mother, who asked not to be identified, told Telemundo Chicago. “This is all we know. But now, it’s no longer safe. Not for us. Not for our kids.”
Both of the couple’s children are now saying goodbye to their school and their friends, and to the only home they have ever known.
“I don’t want to go away,” one of the children told Telemundo Chicago. “My friends are here. I’ve known them since I was little.”
The mother said the family has lived in fear for years, both of things like traffic stops or even ICE agents knocking on their door, but now, with stricter policies and fewer job opportunities amid an ongoing crackdown by the Trump administration, that fear has spurred the family to take action.
“I have to think of my kids,” she said. “They are my priority. If I can’t feed them or keep a roof over their heads, then we have to go.”
That process includes getting passports for the two children, a process that is normally straightforward for American citizens, but in the current political climate has become more of a challenge.
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“They’re not really making a choice. They’re cornered,” Pastor Julie Contreras said. “They’re afraid to even walk into a federal building. That’s why they’re coming here first.”
She said the group has created a step-by-step process that allows families to request passports through safer channels — like a local post office — without risking exposure to immigration authorities.
“We’ve built a system to guide them,” she said. “We check their documents, and help them move through the process safely.”
For now, the family is in the process of choosing a new place to live. They’ll go somewhere in Mexico where housing is affordable, and where they have relatives who can welcome them, but the impact of that decision is already reshaping their children’s world.
“It’s not like we want to go. But at least we won’t be afraid every time someone knocks on the door,” one of the children told Telemundo Chicago.
The family hopes to relocate to Mexico before the beginning of the new school year.
