When Parents Are Deported Kids' Lives Are Left In Turmoil

When Parents Are Deported Kids' Lives Are Left In Turmoil
ELIZABETH, NJ - DECEMBER 10: Protesters chained together block the entrance of an immigrant detention center on December 10, 2013 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups called 'Not One More Deportation' marked international Human Rights Day, staging the civil disobedience action at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and eight protesters were arrested by police. Organizers said the event was designed to draw attention to the continued mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Congress' inability to pass immigration reform. The Obama administration is on track to have removed 2 million immigrants from the United States, the most of any presidential administration. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
ELIZABETH, NJ - DECEMBER 10: Protesters chained together block the entrance of an immigrant detention center on December 10, 2013 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups called 'Not One More Deportation' marked international Human Rights Day, staging the civil disobedience action at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and eight protesters were arrested by police. Organizers said the event was designed to draw attention to the continued mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Congress' inability to pass immigration reform. The Obama administration is on track to have removed 2 million immigrants from the United States, the most of any presidential administration. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Twelve-year-old Jason Penate spent the holidays hanging close by his father. They picked out a Christmas tree and decorated the front window of their Gainesville, Va., home with candy canes, and Jason tried very hard not to think about whether his father would still be here in the new year.

Jorge Penate, a Guatemalan national who came to the United States illegally in 1997, has a hearing scheduled Monday that will determine whether he can stay in the country. A drunken driving arrest two years ago launched deportation proceedings and cast his family’s future into uncertainty.

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