DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – In the latest twist of the American immigration saga, Detroit’s illegal immigrants are reportedly scrambling to draft legal guardianship papers in case they are deported at a moment’s notice. In effect, voluntarily separating themselves from their families.

According to a report from Bridge Michigan, immigrant advocate organizations are seeing a surge of worried parents trying to ensure their kids don’t end up in foster care if they get yanked from the country. These are children who were both brought into the United States illegally with their parents and those who were born in the country.

The deportation paranoia.

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The reality is that so far, deportations have not increased under the president – and the Trump administration has continued to prioritize removing criminal illegal aliens from the country for the safety of the American people – not families or illegal immigrants who have not broken the law other than to enter the country illegally.

However, that hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from scaremongering the immigrant communities about potential raids. The mainstream media, immigration activists, Democrat politicians, schools and universities have all been stoking panic, insisting that every illegal immigrant in the U.S. is currently at risk of mass deportation. So far, no such large-scale crackdown has materialized, and whether it happens in the future is anyone’s guess.

Elizabeth Orozco-Vasquez, chief executive officer of Freedom House in Detroit which helps illegal immigrants with transitional housing says, “We have families that are very scared. They are telling us, ‘What can we expect?’ And unfortunately, we have to tell them we don’t know. Every day is absolutely new.”

In an effort to prepare for an uncertain future, illegal immigrant families are turning to attorneys to create care plans for their children so they avoid placement in Child Protective Services if the parents are detained by ICE. However, often times, the families cannot find someone they trust to take care of their children.

Guardianship forms: the new survival tool.

Because of the uncertainty ahead, the hottest legal document in town right now for an illegal immigrant appears to be a guardianship form – often provided in a Spanish-language format. Nonprofits and attorneys are urging parents to assign a trusted adult to take custody of their children should they suddenly be forced out of the country. Some families even take it a step further, setting up power of attorney agreements to handle finances from abroad.

The process isn’t quick or easy. First, parents need to find someone they trust with their kids’ lives. Then, they have to navigate a pile of legal paperwork, which requires notarization, potential court filings, and an assumption that nothing will get lost in bureaucratic purgatory.