SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Trump administration says its immigration crackdown is mainly focused on deporting people who are without legal status and have committed crimes. But many of those who have been swept up in enforcement actions in recent months don't have a criminal record. KUOW's Gustavo Sagrero has the story of one family in western Washington whose lives have been reshaped by the administration's immigration policies.
GUSTAVO SAGRERO, BYLINE: On a Sunday in late January, Leticia Villatoro and her husband, Armando Chaj, were about to head home with their kids after church. They'd stayed late to talk with one of the pastors, so the church parking lot was mostly empty. That's when Villatoro says the family was surrounded by unmarked pickups and SUVs. Men in bulletproof vests with HSI across their chest - or Homeland Security Investigations - pulled Chaj out of the family car. Villatoro started recording when the officers had put Chaj in handcuffs.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LETICIA VILLATORO: That is my husband.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
L VILLATORO: (Crying) My family's here.
SAGRERO: It was the Sunday after President Trump took office, promising to implement mass deportations. Both Villatoro and Chaj are from Guatemala, living in the U.S. without legal status. Villatoro says their four youngest children are American citizens, but not their oldest. She says the agents were trying to figure out if they could take him, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
L VILLATORO: It's my boy. It's my son, too. It's all my family. (Speaking Spanish, crying).
SAGRERO: In the end, they only took Chaj.
ALEX VILLATORO: I had never heard my mother cry like that before.
SAGRERO: That's Alex Villatoro, the second-oldest son. He's an 18-year-old high school senior and a U.S. citizen.
A VILLATORO: Seeing my dad handcuffed with three federal agents on him was horrible. It was terrifying. It was a horrid image, and I still have it in my brain.
SAGRERO: Chaj had been living in the U.S. without legal status since 2003, according to his family. They had lived in and around the small town of Everson, Washington, for over a decade. Chaj had a job as a home builder. They owned a house and a couple of cars. They recently joined a church community they were excited about. Chaj has no criminal record in the U.S. In response to a question about why Chaj was arrested, ICE said all aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and removal from the United States.
L VILLATORO: (Speaking Spanish).
SAGRERO: Leticia says, "God sees him. God knows he didn't do anything bad." Scores of people have been deported whose only offense was being in the U.S. without legal status. With Chaj arrested, the main source of income for the family of seven was gone. They're paying the bills with what the oldest brother makes as a laborer.
L VILLATORO: (Speaking Spanish).
(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)
SAGRERO: As neighbors stopped by to purchase eggs from the family's chicken coop in February, many had no clue what they were going through.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We'll take two dozen or three. Have you got three?
SAGRERO: The family is proud of connecting with the community this way. They didn't want to leave, but in the wake of Chaj's deportation, Leticia Villatoro had to make a difficult choice - stay in the U.S. with her five children or move back to Guatemala with her three youngest. There, both she and Chaj can care for them, including one child who has Down syndrome.
L VILLATORO: (Speaking Spanish, crying).
SAGRERO: "It's hard because one part of my life is leaving and another is staying here with my sons," she says. "But it is what it is. That's all we have left to do."
Two weeks after federal officials arrested his father, Alex drove his mom and siblings to the airport for their flight to Guatemala. He's faced with finishing his senior year of high school without his mom or dad and finding a way to make it on his own with his older brother. Alex just turned 18.
A VILLATORO: (Speaking Spanish).
SAGRERO: He says they'll have to be responsible for the bills and basically be adults.
A VILLATORO: (Speaking Spanish).
SAGRERO: Alex has stopped going to class in person and instead is learning online. He thinks he'll still be able to graduate this year. He's taken up a warehouse job at a mattress store and is saving money to send to his family as they build a new life in Guatemala.
For NPR News, I'm Gustavo Sagrero in Everson, Washington.
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