Fearing Deportation, Undocumented Immigrants Prepare Wills and Legal Paperwork

A Miami woman’s fear of ‘end times’

In a quiet south Florida home, a 42-year-old South American woman, fearing for her safety due to increased immigration enforcement, signs her will with trembling hands. Her young children observe their mother’s distress, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

She is not sick, but she fears dying from immigration enforcement, a feeling shared by many undocumented immigrants. As government crackdowns intensify, immigrants are increasingly writing wills and planning for the worst, in case they are swept up in immigration raids or die in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. ICE detention deaths have reached record levels, intensifying these fears.

Hardline immigration enforcement continues

Despite the Trump administration’s somewhat softened rhetoric and reduced visibility, the underlying policy of hardline immigration enforcement and mass deportation continues. Fear intensified after a massive federal operation in Minnesota, which led to the fatal shootings of two US citizens and the detention of children. With warehouse spaces being acquired to expand detention capacity, fear and uncertainty remain high among immigrants, prompting legal planning and precautions.

Undocumented parents in states such as Florida, Texas, and California are increasingly drafting wills and guardianship papers. Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, notes that this trend has accelerated sharply over the past year.

Growing fear and preparations

Families are living with the fear of not only detention but also of what could happen inside detention centers. Petit states that at least 40 people have died in detention since the beginning of the year 2025. The fear of sudden disappearance is also very real.

In response to these fears, some parents are putting their properties into trusts, creating backup email accounts on encrypted platforms, and designating trusted individuals as “point persons” to hold their phone, financial accounts, and social media profile passwords. Others are preparing emergency packets for their children, including birth certificates, vaccination records, and instructions in case they do not return from their daily routines.

Local law enforcement participation

In south Florida, local law enforcement has been participating in immigration enforcement. As of January, the Miami-Dade sheriff’s office had 334 “designated immigration officers” – deputies certified to perform immigration enforcement functions. This number was more than triple from the start of the month. The department has now embedded immigration enforcement procedures into routine local policing, increasing the fear among immigrant families.

Contingency planning for life

These small adjustments form an infrastructure of contingency planning for a life that could abruptly change. Parents disappearing into detention is a very real fear, especially considering the hurdles parents face trying to regain custody from child welfare systems. As Chung, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, notes, trying to regain custody of children from abroad is an almost impossible task.

In the Miami kitchen, copies of the will and guardianship papers are strategically placed – one in a drawer, another in the car’s glove compartment, and a third tucked inside the diaper bag – to provide some reassurance in these uncertain times.