Arrests of undocumented immigrants have leapt 40% since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year. But that shocking statistic doesn’t accurately convey the wrenching emotional experience of having your family torn apart by deportation. Just ask the Rodriguez family.


In 2017, David Rodriguez was deported from the United States after he was pulled over for a minor traffic violation, leaving behind a wife and children. He’d lived in the U.S. since he was two years old.

“It feels like our family is broken,” David’s daughter Alyssa explained. “There’s a big ‘ol piece missing from it.”