I am a Latino preparing for Trump’s mass deportation of migrants | Close Up | Digital series

Jorge Paz Reyes still remembers the feeling of those first months in fifth grade after arriving in the United States from Honduras with his mother and three sisters. The adjustment was difficult.

“I cry every morning. To the point that my mother got tired of me,” he says, reflecting on a conversation they had. “She sat me down and said, ‘Jorge, you can’t cry all the time. I can’t pick you up from school every day, otherwise I can’t feed you.

Jorge, now an activist and community member of Mixteca—an organization that provides free health and education services to New York City’s immigrant community—grew up in New York City as an undocumented child. Today, he is a permanent resident applying for citizenship through a special youth program. But a few of his relatives remain undocumented and fear deportation under the incoming administration. “I have someone really close to me who is undocumented and I could lose them because of Donald Trump,” says Jorge, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportation.

Trump’s campaign pledge to deport up to 12 million undocumented migrants has sparked widespread fear and anxiety, particularly among the millions of people who have been in the United States for years and built careers, formed communities and families . After his election victory in November last year, Trump discussed the use of the US military to enforce his deportation plan, even declaring a national emergency if necessary.

For activists like Jorge, who live and work closely with immigrant communities, this promise has become a tangible fear. Check out our latest Close Up episode “Trump’s Deportation Nation” to see how community members like Jorge prepare for the possibility of mass deportation.

Director: Taimi Arvidson

Producer: Leo Hamelin

Director of Photography: Daniel Vergara

Additional Camera: Eric Arthur Fernandez, Nick Midwig

Writer: Tierney Bonini

Editing: Antonia Perello, Catherine Hallinan

Executive Producer: Tierney Bonini

Senior Editor: Donald Cameron