Ecuadorian family members walk at JFK International Airport before boarding their flight to Ecuador in New York. AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: Undocumented immigrant Andrea, 28, cries while standing with her children inside the Ecuadorian Consulate after learning the emergency passport application for her daughter Jazlyn, 6, would be delayed pending further documentation on October 8, 2025 in the Queens Borough of New York City. Andrea and her cousin Jennyfer, 22, had to apply for emergency passports to be able to "self deport" with her children back to Ecuador. They made the decision to return to their country after their husbands were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and later deported due to their undocumented status. Volunteers with the immigrant support group Danbury Unites assisted them after their husbands were incarcerated, making the last two rent payments for the one room of a house where they lived. The mothers, unable to work and care for their children without spousal support, chose to return to Ecuador with the help of the aid group, whose donors purchased their air tickets to Quito and volunteers assisted with the logistics of moving. Andrea said she chose not to use the Trump Administration's app CBP Home, fearing that by sharing personal information with ICE, she could be permanently separated from her two children during the "self deportation" process. Like other small immigrant community aid organizations around the United States, Danbury Unites' Post-Disappearance Support Group strives to provide such vulnerable families whose loved ones have been detained with a modicum of safety while offering both emotional and tangible support by connecting immigrants to resources, regardless of whether they decide to stay in the U.S. or leave. Such groups have provided a humanitarian lifeline to many immigrant communities currently living in fear across the United States, as ICE expands its operations with the express mandate of mass deportations. John Moore/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty
