Family

Maru Mora-Villalpando lives in fear of deportation. As a community organizer for #Not1More Deportation and an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, her fears are not unfounded. Her nephew was deported in 2008; her cousin was deported in 2010 and she has seen countless other families separated. "I expect that to happen to me as well," she said. Mora-Villalpando says her 17-year-old daughter constantly worries that she will be deported, particularly because of her activism, which forces her to travel frequently. "We have to be in constant touch. This is how I protect her and lessen her stress that her mother can be taken at any moment," she told Truthout. Research shows this kind of fear can be profoundly detrimental for children. The study "The Children Left Behind: The Impact of Parental Deportation on Mental Health" notes the crucial role of parent-child relationships in social skills, emotion regulation and self-concept development.