Self-Deportation Is Quietly Tearing Families Apart—And More Latina Moms Are Choosing It
It starts in the car—like so many family road trips before. Except this time, the suitcases are one-way. In a now-viral TikTok, creator Julie Ear documents what no child should have to: the heartbreak of helping her mom self-deport after 36 years in the U.S.
They leave Los Angeles and head toward Tijuana, where her mom will board a flight to Mexico City. “She has no criminal record. A hardworking taxpayer who has been working 12-hour shifts since she was 15. Six days out of the week,” Julie says in the video. She adds that her mom “didn’t get food stamps,” or welfare. “She didn’t even ask for child support.”
Her mother, like so many others, decided to leave the country quietly—on her own terms—before ICE could come knocking. She’s not alone.
What’s Really Driving This Wave of Self-Deportation?
Under President Trump’s current immigration crackdown, ICE arrests have surpassed 100,000 this year alone. According to NewsNation, the administration is now actively encouraging migrants to voluntarily leave the U.S. through a streamlined “Project Homecoming” initiative.
Migrants who self-deport via the CBP Home app can avoid daily fines (which can hit $1,000 per day), receive a $1,000 “exit bonus,” and even qualify for free flights to their home country. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed this new push: “If you don’t [leave], you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation, and will never be allowed to return.”
Immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez told NewsNation, “Leaving on their own—I’ve never seen that before. Not in these numbers. Never in these numbers.”
This Self-Deportation Story Went Viral for a Reason
Julie Ear’s video struck a nerve because it’s not just about policy—it’s about people. Her mother left behind three children, three grandchildren, and 36 years of roots in the only country they’ve ever called home. Her decision to self-deport, Julie says, came down to dignity.
“This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she says, voice cracking while trying to hold it together as the eldest daughter. “Even though we’re all sad to see her go, my mom hasn’t seen her mom in 22 years. She’s 51 and she’s going back home to Guerrero, Mexico to retire after so many years of being here.”
“I Cannot Risk Being Sent to Some Prison Somewhere”
Another creator, @q_vasquez, also shared her deeply personal decision to begin self-deportation. A DACA recipient and mother of three U.S.-born daughters, Q explains that she can no longer live with the constant fear of ICE.
“There is no guarantee that I’m going to be sent back to my birth country,” she says. “I have three daughters who are U.S. citizens. I cannot risk being separated from them.”
She breaks down what self-deportation looks like when you’re a single mom with no safety net: getting passports, relocating with children who don’t speak Spanish, finding a way to make income online. “Do I wanna leave? No. I cannot hold an entire conversation in Spanish. But I’m not going to risk being sent to some prison somewhere.”
DHS Is Framing Self-Deportation as “Dignified”—But Advocates Disagree
While DHS calls self-deportation a “dignified” alternative to arrest and removal, migrant advocates warn this is a dangerous PR move wrapped in cruelty. According to NJ.com, over $250 million was recently reallocated from refugee aid to fund the Project Homecoming program.
Meanwhile, People reported that the Trump administration listed over 6,300 mostly Latino immigrants as “dead” in the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. This move cut off their access to federal benefits—including healthcare, loans, and unemployment—without formally deporting them. “We will encourage them to self-deport,” said a White House spokesperson.
The emotional and logistical impact of these policies is staggering. Vasquez notes that she’s preparing to homeschool her kids because she no longer feels safe even driving them to school.
These Latina Moms Deserve to Be Seen
What’s crushing about these stories isn’t just the loss of legal protection—it’s the erasure of dignity. Women who have raised families, paid taxes, and worked punishing jobs for decades are now being forced to disappear quietly.
In Milwaukee, FOX6 reported that Yessenia Ruano, a beloved teacher’s aide, has been ordered to self-deport. Her students held signs reading “I Stand With Mrs. Ruano,” and her attorney is fighting for her to stay under a pending T-visa application.
She’s one of thousands of undocumented women—many of them Latina mothers—who are now being told to leave voluntarily or face the full brunt of the law. It’s a lose-lose situation wrapped in bureaucratic language.
