Florida families torn apart as ICE enforcement shifts to less visible tactics

The Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Florida has moved away from high-profile militarised raids towards a quieter but equally divisive strategy, according to a special report from the president's home county. July saw the highest number of deportations of Trump's second term, as police, highway patrols and even the Fish and Wildlife Commission gained the power to make immigration arrests.

The shift follows a widespread backlash to earlier raids and the killing of two protesters. But the new approach is no less painful for the families caught up in it. In Lake Worth, Florida, the Domingo family was stopped on their way home from church. Parents Maria and Abraham were both detained within minutes, leaving their five children, the youngest just three, to fend for themselves. Wendy, who had just turned 18, became the de facto guardian. She told reporters she had delayed college and taken two jobs to pay rent and care for her siblings.

The Guatemalan Maya Center, a community group in the same county, has seen the impact ripple through almost every family it serves. Staff say many of those detained have no criminal convictions and often hold work permits. They reject the president's claim that he is targeting the worst of the worst. The centre is now urging families to grant power of attorney to trusted adults in case a parent is detained. Its director, Mari, described the atmosphere as one of fear, with people too scared to go out. She said the steady drumbeat of arrests is delivering record deportation figures, partly because immigration powers have been handed to agencies like wildlife and fisheries, which often operate with force.

The report also highlighted the emotional toll on children. One 11-year-old boy, Junior, had earned five E's at school but could only share the news with his sisters. A teacher said children who once ran up to police officers to high-five them now walk away terrified. In two families at the centre, one parent had already been deported to Guatemala, and the children, who have only ever known America, were preparing to fly there to start new lives.

The Domingo children later learned their parents had been reunited in Guatemala City. Their mother explained why most of the children would stay in America: they are American citizens with a future there. Wendy will fight to keep her siblings together. The report closed outside Mar-a-Lago, the president's Florida home, just 15 minutes from the trailer park where a family was torn apart. To critics, this is the cruel reality of Trump's America; to supporters, it is exactly what they voted for. But for the families involved, the question of whether the policy is popular is secondary to the trauma it leaves behind.