Continued Mass Deportations Mean More Are Teens Forced to Care for Siblings After Parents Get Detained: Report

Before beginning his second term, President Donald Trump vowed to carry out the "largest deportation operation" in U.S. history and promising to go after "the worst of the worst" immigrants, including drug traffickers, gang members and others with criminal records.

Nearly a year into his term, however, the plans have swept up a wide range of undocumented immigrants, including many without any criminal history.

One of the damages of this aggressive crackdown has been leaving minors without their parents. Recent immigration raids in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans have resulted in hundreds of arrests. In some cases, these operations have removed parents who were the primary caregivers and breadwinners, forcing teenagers to care for siblings and manage household responsibilities in the absence of their mothers and fathers.

That has been the reality for 18-year-old Jonathan Escalante, a U.S. citizen forced to provide for his 9-year-old sister after their mother's arrest.

According to The Associated Press, Vilma Cruz, a 38-year-old Honduran woman, was among more than 200 people detained by federal immigration officials in New Orleans, Louisiana, during operations earlier this month.

Cruz, a house painter, was arrested in her driveway. She managed to call her oldest son, Jonathan, just before agents smashed the passenger-side window and took her into custody.

She was detained in Kenner, a predominantly Latino neighborhood just outside New Orleans, where, according to The Associated Press, parents at risk of deportation have rushed to arrange emergency custody plans for their children.

Court documents show that Cruz had no prior criminal record at the time of her arrest, a fact confirmed by her son.

The Department of Homeland Security said Cruz refused to exit her car and would not lower the window as instructed, prompting agents to break the passenger-side window to take her into custody. She is now being held in federal detention pending removal proceedings, officials told The Associated Press.

After his mother's arrest, Escalante has been left to care for his sister, who has a physical disability, on his own.

"Honestly, I'm not ready, having to take on all of these responsibilities," Escalante told The Associated Press. "But I'm willing to do it if I have to. And I'm just praying that I get my mom back."

The outlet reports that Escalante had just finished high school. Since his mother's detention, he has been trying to access her bank account, locate his sister's medical records and doctors, and figure out how to pay bills in her absence.

Immigrant advocacy groups argue that operations carried out by federal immigration agents in Louisiana are relying on sweeping enforcement tactics that disproportionately affect Latino communities.

In the weeks leading up to the raids, many families without legal status tried to arrange emergency care for their children with relatives, with help from pro bono attorneys at events organized by local advocacy groups across Kenner and the greater New Orleans area, the outlet reported.

"Children are going to school not knowing if their parents will be home at the end of the day," Raiza Pitre of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana said at a Jefferson Parish City Council meeting Wednesday.

Escalante's case is not isolated. According to comments made by Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, his office receives dozens of calls everyday about Lousiana families worries about being separated from their children. His organization is helping Escalante cope with life without his mother, and Proaño said he is trying to prepare Escalante for what may come next.

"He thinks she'll be home in a couple of days, but it could be weeks or months, or she could be deported," Proaño said.

According to The Associated Press, Escalante is yet to tell his sister about their mother's arrest, hoping she can be released before the teenagers has to explain her absence to his 9-year-old sister.

"I'm technically the adult of the house now," he said. "I have to make these hard choices."