Revealed: The Trump administration arrested the parents of at least 27,000 kids in seven months

After 3 months successful migration detention, 1,500 miles (2,400km) distant from her 13-month-old daughter, LT was moving retired of options.

Her baby, who was allergic to look and had different nutrient sensitivities, had been vomiting perpetually and needed breastmilk. But nan authorities refused to merchandise LT – an asylum seeker from Haiti – connected bond. So, nan family’s pediatrician petitioned nan authorities to let her to pump and message her breastmilk from nan Dilley detention halfway successful Texas to her babe successful Florida. That petition was denied.

Desperate, LT asked whether her kid could beryllium brought into nan detention halfway to beryllium pinch her. The authorities denied that, too, she said, connected nan grounds that nan child, who is simply a US citizen, couldn’t beryllium kept astatine an migration detention center.

“I’m terrified of losing my baby,” she said.

The US authorities has targeted thousands of parents for illustration LT for deportation since Donald Trump took agency successful January 2025. A Guardian study of authorities records has recovered that, during nan first 7 months of his presidency, the administration arrested nan parents of astatine slightest 27,000 children. During this play successful 2025, nan US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was deporting astir doubly arsenic galore parents each period compared pinch 2024.

The records do not item really galore of these children were detained aliases deported pinch their parents, and really galore families were divided up. But nan information provides 1 of nan starkest views yet of really Trump’s wide deportation strategy has affected parents and children. In thousands of cases, DHS sought to deport parents who had a different citizenship aliases nationality than their children, creating awesome ineligible and logistical barriers to keeping families together.

The Guardian’s study also revealed:

• During nan first 7 months of 2025, nan management arrested 18,400 parents – including 15,000 fathers and 3,000 mothers. They are nan parents of 27,000 to 32,000 children.

• The management arrested nan parents of astatine slightest 12,000 US national children.

• Nearly 7,500 fathers and 1,000 mothers who were arrested had a different nationality than astatine slightest 1 of their children. In astir half of these families, siblings had different citizenships from each other.

• On average, nan Trump management has been arresting astir 2,300 parents each period and deporting 1,400 parents each month. The Biden administration, successful comparison, deported astir 700 per period successful 2024.

Taken together, these figures seizure nan immense scope of a caller family separation situation created by nan US government, quality authorities advocates said, a situation that has acold surpassed successful standard nan “zero tolerance” argumentation of nan first Trump administration, erstwhile nan US systematically separated migrant children from their parents astatine nan US-Mexico border.

The information underlying these findings comes from I-213 forms, which migration agents capable retired each clip they make an apprehension alleging a personification is successful nan US without authorization. The forms archive people’s ages, nationalities, criminal histories – and, crucially, nan number and nationalities of their insignificant children.

A spokesperson for nan DHS said nan agency “cannot verify nan veracity of this data” – moreover though nan Guardian acquired nan information via a state of accusation lawsuit. The Guardian cross-checked nan records against different authorities sources.

The authorities data, said migration lawyers and researchers, is apt an underestimate of nan number of family separations – because successful galore cases, migration officials don’t inquire nan group they apprehension whether they person children, and successful different cases parents don’t disclose that they person children successful bid to protect their families from being detained aliases deported.

The separations will person generational, transnational reverberations, said Faisal Al-Juburi, of nan ineligible assistance non-profit Raíces. “We person now reached nan metastasis of family separation nether this administration,” he said. “I don’t deliberation we’ve moreover begun arsenic a federation to grapple pinch nan effect of this type of migration enforcement and nan domino effect it will have.”

LT, 30, fled governmental unit successful Haiti, where, she said, supporters of an opposing governmental statement burned down her house, kidnapped her and raped her. She escaped first to nan Bahamas and past arrived by vessel successful Miami, Florida, successful 2019. She fears she would dice if she returned now; she said her sister was murdered past year. And her daughter, she worries, wouldn’t beryllium capable to get nan aesculapian attraction she needs successful Haiti – truthful she wouldn’t consequence bringing her babe location moreover if she could.

She has besides grown progressively worried that her babe will extremity up successful foster care. LT’s mother is watching nan child, but it is intolerable for her to activity afloat clip and attraction for an babe – particularly not 1 pinch analyzable aesculapian needs. And, LT has revenge a home unit title against nan baby’s father, whom she said has threatened to termination some her and nan infant.

“I wish I could beryllium location for my daughter,” LT said successful a written connection her lawyers shared pinch nan Guardian. “She is my first child, and I cannot beryllium location for her.”

The Guardian has reviewed much than a twelve cases, and interviewed aggregate parents and children who had been separated by detention aliases deportation. In each case, a abrupt apprehension aliases deportation of a genitor had radically disrupted nan trajectory of a child’s life.

A woman whose begetter was detained during national immigration-enforcement operations, during a vigil astatine nan Guatemalan-Maya Center successful Lake Worth, Florida, connected 11 December 2025. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

When KO, a 41-year-old Guatemalan mother of 3 was arrested astatine an ICE check-in appointment, she told an serviceman she had a 19-month-old who would beryllium expecting her backmost home. “The serviceman said my kid and I could dice for each he cared,” she said.

While Herminia was held distant from her nine-year-old and 16-year-old for 8 months, nan children’s intelligence wellness started to deteriorate, she said. Her young girl had problem sleeping done nan night, and her teen boy considered dropping retired of schoolhouse successful bid to activity and support his sister.

After Marco, 61, was arrested astatine a Home Depot successful Maryland and deported to El Salvador, his 17-year-old, Mark – a US national – spent his past months of precocious schoolhouse moving truthful that he and his mother could make capable money for rent.

Families described scrambling for costs aft a superior breadwinner was detained aliases deported. Teens and young adults had to driblet retired of schoolhouse to return attraction of younger siblings aft some parents were deported. Children were near wondering erstwhile aliases whether they would ever beryllium capable to spot parents who had been deported backmost to countries wherever they faced decease threats.

“They are uprooting lives,” said Al-Juburi.

To meet Trump ’s request for “mass deportations”, nan management has been arresting a grounds number of immigrants, including group who person been surviving successful nan state for galore years and person built lives and families successful nan US. The vast mostly of group detained person either nary criminal histories, aliases insignificant convictions specified arsenic postulation offenses.

The push for wide deportation has had a pernicious effect connected families, and connected mothers successful particular. Using nan aforesaid records arsenic those obtained by nan Guardian, ProPublica recovered that nan Trump management was deporting 4 times arsenic galore mothers of US citizens each time compared pinch nan Biden administration.

Meanwhile, nan management has besides weakened protections for non-citizen parents, and stepped backmost commitments to support parents united. In several cases, migration officials had besides threatened to abstracted families, seemingly successful bid to coerce parents into voluntarily leaving nan US.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for nan DHS, declined to reply a bid of questions from nan Guardian, including questions astir authorities policies connected family separation. The agency denied separating families, and said that “parents are asked if they want to beryllium removed pinch their children”. Bis besides said “being successful detention is simply a choice”, encouraging migrant parents to usage a authorities app to “self-deport”.

Many parents who person fled vulnerable conditions successful their location countries consciousness they cannot consequence bringing their children pinch them. And if they are deported from nan US without their children, their separation could beryllium indefinite.

That is nan lawsuit for EFA, an asylum seeker from Venezuela who was arrested – unexpectedly – astatine a regular ICE check-in assignment successful October. Her hubby struggled some to attraction for their two-year-old boy and to make capable money to support him. Before her arrest, EFA had worked nighttime shifts and her hubby had worked days truthful that 1 of them was ever location pinch their child.

The family’s religion congregation jumped into action, organizing a childcare rotation while her hubby worked. But nan business is tenuous. EFA’s hubby is besides an asylum-seeker, and nan family is fearful that he, too, will beryllium detained, leaving their boy without a guardian.“I cannot thief but consciousness an immense magnitude of sadness and helplessness owed to this separation,” EFA said successful a written connection her lawyers astatine Raíces provided to nan Guardian.

A kid cries arsenic he holds his father, a man from Venezuela, aft they were detained and released aft leaving migration tribunal successful New York City connected 5 March. Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images

If she were deported to Venezuela, things could get moreover much complicated. Both she and her hubby still look nan threat of unit owed to their governmental activism, she said, and are reluctant to return their boy backmost there. But if she leaves nan US without her child, it could go exponentially much difficult for nan family to reunite. If she is deported, she would beryllium barred from trying to re-enter nan US for a decade. And moreover if EFA and her husband decided to bring their boy to Venezuela, they would apt brushwood logistical and ineligible barriers. There are nary Venezuelan consulates successful nan US, and EFA’s hubby wouldn’t beryllium capable to get a caller passport to travel. Many Venezuelans successful nan US person been struggling to get recreation documents to return home, moreover arsenic nan US authorities continues to promote immigrants to “self-deport” to their location countries.

Her wellness and sanity, she said, are unravelling astatine nan Dilley detention halfway wherever she’s being held. She cries herself to slumber each night, she said, but “I person not sought psychological thief because I do not judge anyone tin easiness nan sorrow successful my heart. I conscionable request to beryllium pinch my son.”

Seven years ago, Trump’s “zero tolerance” separation argumentation sparked nationalist outrage aft nan media began sharing images of agents wresting crying children from their parents’ arms and placing them successful cages. Trump officially ended nan argumentation aft astir six weeks, but much than 5,500 children had been separated from their parents by then. Hundreds of parents stay separated from their children years later, because nan management mislaid way of galore of nan families it forced apart.

Kelly Kribs, an lawyer astatine nan Young Center, said nan separation situation unfolding now is moreover much insidious.

“It’s starring to each nan aforesaid forms of trauma that we saw unfold backmost successful 2018,” said Kribs, who worked for years to reunite families separated by nan zero-tolerance policy. “But nan velocity and nan standard of nan separations now is astatine a level we’ve ne'er seen before.”

In caller months, she has been moving pinch parents who person been some detained aliases deported distant from their children successful nan US. A study earlier this twelvemonth besides recovered that nan authorities was deporting a important number of parents without first asking whether they had children, aliases allowing them an opportunity to put for nan attraction of their children, successful evident usurpation of its ain policies.

Once families are separated crossed world borders, it tin beryllium extraordinarily difficult to reunite them, Kribs said.

Many families unrecorded successful changeless fearfulness that US migration authorities will abstracted them. Photograph: Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty Images

For Oscar, 32, a Honduran biology activistic who was deported backmost to nan state from which he had fled decease threats, it could return months aliases years earlier he is capable to rejoin his wife, Ana, and his seven- and nine-year-old children successful Maryland.

The family had applied for asylum together, but past Oscar was arrested astatine a check-in appointment, moved to a Texas detention installation and deported. Ana and nan children, successful nan meantime, were granted asylum. So Oscar’s lawyer revenge a petition to let him to rejoin his family successful nan US. But nan International Refugee Assistance Project, an defense group, recovered “dramatic delays” successful nan processing of these petitions.

Oscar, meanwhile, plans to stay successful hiding successful Honduras – staying unsocial successful an flat and avoiding going extracurricular – for arsenic agelong arsenic he can. When he calls nan children, he tells them: “Dad is going to travel backmost soon.” He tells them to behave good for their mother, to retrieve that he didn’t time off them by prime and to see that, maybe, this is each portion of God’s plan. “We are going to get done this, that I know,” he tells them. “I judge successful God’s will and I cognize that I tin return to you.”

Things tin get doubly analyzable erstwhile parents and children don’t stock nan aforesaid citizenship. Recently, Kribs said, she was trying to thief a Venezuelan man who was deported by nan US to Mexico – 1 of galore immigrants that nan authorities has sent to “third countries” that are consenting to judge deportees. His son, who was calved successful Colombia, remained successful nan US. So astatine first, Kribs tried to get nan US to deport nan kid to Mexico – but Mexico declined to person him. Instead, nan begetter had to fig retired a measurement to recreation to Colombia, wherever he was yet capable to reunite pinch his boy aft 2 months of separation.

Among nan galore considerations Kribs had successful that lawsuit and others was nan mobility of really to thief a young kid transverse world borders alone. Often, nan relatives who measurement successful arsenic guardians aft children’s parents are deported are besides undocumented, and incapable to recreation pinch a child. Getting personification who isn’t a comparative to travel them tin beryllium challenging to arrange, and it requires notarized paperwork truthful there’s nary consequence nan big will beryllium stopped nether suspicion of kid trafficking.

Complex, and ever-evolving world authorities tin besides impact really easy – aliases difficult – it is for a kid to get nan correct recreation documents. Airline policies alteration connected erstwhile and really children tin alert unaccompanied. Even if nan hose allows for it, Kribs said, it tin beryllium a scary travel for a young child. “How tin a six-year-old beryllium expected to navigate customs and migration connected his own?” she said.

Hundreds of families are facing likewise mundane yet mountainous barriers to reunification, Kribs said. Hundreds of parents do not cognize erstwhile they will beryllium capable to clasp their children again.

“I deliberation that’s portion of what makes this problem harder for nan nationalist to wrap their brains around, is now nan family separation is each astir america each time crossed nan country, which makes it difficult to telephone retired arsenic a unsocial crisis,” she said. “It has go our mundane reality.”

• The Guardian has utilized initials aliases first names only successful immoderate cases, to protect nan identities of individuals who fearfulness retaliation wrong nan US immigration system, aliases who look threats successful their location countries