Across the country, thousands of children are growing up without their dads at home right now. Not because their fathers left, but because ICE took them away.
Immigrant fathers are one of the primary targets of the current wave of immigration enforcement. And the numbers tell a story that should stop all of us in our tracks.
15,000 Dads. 27,000 Kids. One Policy.
An analysis of government records obtained by The Guardian found that in just the first seven months of the Trump administration, ICE arrested the parents of at least 27,000 children, including more than 12,000 with U.S. citizenship. Among those arrested: 15,000 fathers.
That is roughly 47 dads removed from their families every single day. Dads who were working, raising children, building lives here.
And the majority of them had no serious criminal record. According to ProPublica, more than half of the immigrant fathers of U.S. citizen children detained under this administration had no criminal convictions in the United States, only a traffic violation or an immigration offense.
It Happened Here, Too
This is not just happening in other states. Right here in the Bay Area, immigration arrests have more than doubled over the past year. A carpenter from Sunnyvale, father of a young daughter, was detained by ICE in front of his family in early 2025. According to court filings reviewed by KQED, he suffered a heart attack and a stroke during the arrest.
Fathers are being taken leaving their home, on the way to work, at routine immigration check-ins... The pattern is clear: if you are an immigrant dad in the Bay Area, you need to have a plan.
When Enforcement Turns Deadly
The risk isn't only detention. In July 2026, two immigrant fathers were fatally shot by ICE agents within days of each other: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican father with no criminal convictions, was killed during a traffic stop in Houston while driving to a job site. He had spent 35 years working to put his three sons through college.
Days later in Biddeford, Maine, an ICE officer fatally shot Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian father with legal work authorization, as he drove to work. He left behind a partner and a three-year-old daughter.
You Have Rights. Use Them.
Being an immigrant does not mean being defenseless. Here is what every immigrant father in the Bay Area should know and do right now:
- You do not have to open your door if ICE does not have a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
- You have the right to remain silent and to speak with an attorney before signing anything.
- Prepare a family safety plan today: who cares for your children if you are detained? Do you have a power of attorney in place?
- Never miss a court date or immigration check-in. Failing to appear almost guarantees a deportation order in your absence.
- If you are a permanent resident, you may already be eligible for naturalization, the strongest protection against deportation that exists. Talk to an attorney today.
The fact that you are here working, raising your kids, fighting every day for a better life, that is strength. That is courage. And you deserve to stay.
Is your family at risk? Do not wait.
At Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C., we fight for immigrant families across the Bay Area. Contact us today for guidance on deportation defense, family protection plans, and naturalization.
Oakland: (510) 488-1020
www.landerholmimmigration.com
1900 Embarcadero, Suite 310, Oakland, CA 94606