Fearing detention by U.S. immigration authorities, 51-year-old Regina Higuera — who had lived and worked in the United States for over three decades — made the difficult decision to leave the country and return to Mexico.
Higuera, who arrived in the U.S. at age 15 and worked for years in Los Angeles’ garment industry, had been living without legal status after her work permit expired. With growing fear over increased immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, and without the funds to regularize her status, she chose to leave voluntarily.
Instead of risking interrogation at Los Angeles International Airport, Higuera and her family drove to Tijuana, where she crossed the border and boarded a flight to Mexico City. From there, she traveled five hours by car to Guerrero, her home state.
“We were heartbroken that she felt so scared for her safety that she had to make this decision, but we were ultimately supportive,” said her daughter, Julie Ear, who has been sharing her mother’s story online. Ear described Higuera as a hardworking woman with no criminal history, who worked 12-hour shifts for most of her life and paid taxes.
Though Higuera had originally planned to retire in Mexico one day, she chose to leave the U.S. earlier than expected, citing fear for her family and a political climate that has grown increasingly hostile toward undocumented immigrants.
Now adjusting to life back in Mexico, Higuera is leaning on relatives for support but is struggling with the transition. “She is having a hard time adjusting to the cultural differences… they do things differently out there,” her daughter said.
Her children plan to visit her in August, and her husband is preparing to join her permanently in Mexico.
ICE Crackdown Sparks Concern
Higuera’s departure comes amid an aggressive push by the Trump administration to ramp up deportations. ICE has been instructed to arrest 3,000 undocumented immigrants daily, a core pillar of Trump’s reelection platform.
A recent Washington Post report revealed that ICE may now deport migrants with as little as six hours’ notice — and in some cases, to countries that are not even their own, without proper safety assurances from the receiving nations.
Under the new policy, deportees may receive 24 hours’ notice only if diplomatic guarantees are absent, but “exigent circumstances” can justify removals on extremely short timelines, raising alarms among immigrant advocates and legal experts.
As cases like Regina Higuera’s become more common, critics say the government’s hardline approach is forcing long-term, law-abiding residents to flee the country out of fear — not legal necessity.
