With her three-year-old son running carefree beside her, Franyelis stepped out of a repurposed budget hotel that now serves as a shelter for migrant families. Seven months pregnant and holding on to quiet determination, the 28-year-old Venezuelan woman is grappling with a reality she never imagined when she first arrived in the United States two years ago.
Franyelis had come to the US with hope — and trust. The decision to migrate was driven by her partner, the father of her children, encouraged by relatives already settled in America and by a smoother asylum pathway available at the time. “They told us we could build a better future for the boys,” she recalled.
That promise now feels distant.
A journey shaped by changing policies
When Franyelis arrived, she never expected to be pregnant again, let alone navigating motherhood amid legal uncertainty. Since then, immigration rules have shifted sharply under Donald Trump, reshaping the lives of thousands of migrant families like hers.
As enforcement has intensified, Franyelis finds herself caught in the middle — far from home, anxious about her children’s safety and unsure of what tomorrow holds.
Torn between fear and hope
On a cold, windy afternoon, she headed out to collect her older son from school, her toddler Emmanuel darting around her, oblivious to traffic lights, the cold, or his mother’s worry. Smiling shyly, she revealed that the baby she is expecting is another boy.
Yet behind the smile lies exhaustion and fear. “None of this was supposed to happen like this,” she said quietly. As her due date approaches, one thought keeps returning: she wants to leave.
“I need to leave,” she repeated, tears welling up — unsure whether returning home is even possible, or whether she can make that choice in time.
A wider human story
Franyelis’s story reflects a broader human cost of immigration policy shifts — where political decisions translate into deeply personal struggles. For now, she waits, carrying both a child and a heavy uncertainty, hoping that somewhere ahead lies safety, dignity and a future her children deserve.