This Christmas, some NYC children will sleep clutching phones instead of toys, longing for calls from loved ones in ICE’s custody that may never come.

Separated by President Trump’s mass deportation policy, immigrant families say a season normally filled with celebrations of family has instead become a season of fear and longing, defined by empty beds, missed milestones, and the constant ache of being torn apart.

Families are trying to do their best to find light in a season shadowed by uncertainty – holding close to their faith, their children, and hope for better days. Data shows that at least 60% people with no criminal records have been arrested by the Trump administration in 2025. This data contradicts repeated statements from Trump administration members such as Border Czar Tom Homan, who claims ICE is only targeting “the worst of the worst,” meaning violent criminals.

Many of the detainees taken by ICE in New York are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and other relatives without criminal records, who will nevertheless be missing from dinner tables for Christmas dinner — and from living rooms as children open up their presents on Christmas morning.

amNewYork spoke with several New Yorkers who have had loved ones arrested by ICE to discover how they will be celebrating the holiday season. For all these families, Christmas is not just a holiday. It is a moment that exemplifies the grief of a policy that has left them shattered.

Queens mom will deliver a bundle of joy to her deported husband

Jessica Supliguicha’s husband, Jorge, was detained by ICE inside 26 Federal Plaza on Sept. 6; he was deported three days before his daughter was born. Less than a week before the holiday, she could be found inside her Queens home changing her baby’s onesie with Christmas clothes.

Tears dripped down her cheek as she shared the latest development in her life — a perfect Christmas gift.

Tears dripped down her cheek as she shared the latest development in her life — a perfect Christmas gift.Photo by Dean Moses Jessica Supliguicha erects a nativity scene.Photo by Dean Moses

Supliguicha’s friends, family, and work colleagues pooled their money to buy her family a plane ticket to visit her husband in Ecuador, where he will meet his daughter for the first time.

“I’m still in shock because I don’t know if it’s a dream or not,” Supliguicha said. “He was also happy yesterday because we were going to see him practically at Christmas, since we only talk on the phone. Like we always do. He’s finally going to see my princess.”

While Supliguicha’s husband hides in Ecuador under the protection of coworkers who drive him back and forth, she carries the weight, taking care of her three children, paying the rent, and holding the family together.

“I’m not going to give up because they are children, and I am the pillar of the home. If I collapse, they will too. These holidays are for joy, and I try to keep us happy always,” Supliguicha said.

Brooklyn mom and family stuck in a shelter
28-year-old Franyelis holds a photo of her husband who was detained by ICE.Photo by Dean Moses

Meanwhile, on the other side of New York City, a Brooklyn mother prepared a small space in a homeless shelter with balloons and small gifts for her two children while her husband remains in Venezuela after being deported.

Franyelis, whose last name has been withheld by amNewYork due to the sensitivity of the case, was struggling to pay rent for her apartment and to provide food for her two young sons.

Now, she is living in a shelter, pregnant and waiting to be deported herself so she can reunite with her husband.

“I feel lonely, depressed because this Christmas I’m going to stay here in the shelter with the kids,” Franyelis shared how she felt spending these holidays far from her husband. “I am going to buy some little gifts for the kids, and I wanted to put some balloons so they wouldn’t be so sad on the 24th or the 31st.”

Manhattan man back at home for the holidays

A Green card holder in Manhattan is happy to be home to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Heury Gomez was taken into ICE custody on Aug. 5 and said he endured a hellish summer.

With the help of his cousin, who raised money for legal representation, Gomez finally returned home in November and now says he is excited for the season, but also laments those left behind.

Heury GomezPhoto by Dean Moses

“I am happy but sad at the same time sad that there are other families that won’t be able to spend the holidays together, especially because I know that those families didn’t commit a serious crime. They don’t deserve to go through that,” Gomez said.

Queens family reunited just in time

Like Gomez, another family in Queens is also celebrating reunion and relief.

After weeks of sleepless nights, Alexandra Alvarez finally welcomed her husband, Manuel Mejia Hernandez, home on Dec. 4, just before Christmas. Alvares stated that she feels blessed for the moment but is concerned about what is to come.

“It’s a different situation because there is that feeling that a lot of people are going through this, and since we’ve already been through it, that feeling, that nostalgia remains,” Alvarez said.

For Hernandez, spending Christmas with his family is a blessing from God, even though he endures the pain of wearing a GPS ankle monitor.

“I asked to be there for my daughter’s birthday, which was the most important thing. Christmas is here with the family, spending it with them, enjoying the moment,” Hernandez said.

This family is preparing to attend church on Christmas Eve, where they will give thanks for everything, and then return home and try to put the nightmare they went through together behind them.

“I feel calmer with him here, but still with the same fear because they’re still going to be here. We don’t have any support from anyone; it’s just us, and hopefully, God willing, nothing will happen,” Moreta Galarza said.Photo by Dean Moses “I feel calmer with him here, but still with the same fear because they’re still going to be here. We don’t have any support from anyone; it’s just us, and hopefully, God willing, nothing will happen,” Moreta Galarza said.Photo by Dean Moses

Trauma keeps her family at home for Christmas
Monica Moreta-Galarza, an immigrant from Ecuador broke down into tears as she relived the moment she was tossed to the ground after pleading for the return of her husband.Photo by Dean Moses

Not all families feel safe to go outside and join the festivities to celebrate this year.

Monica Moreta-Galarza, who was infamously assaulted by an ICE agent inside 26 Federal Plaza after her husband was detained attending immigration court on Sept. 25, said it was a moment she will never forget – even now, after her husband’s release and reunion.

“I feel calmer with him here, but still with the same fear because they’re still going to be here. We don’t have any support from anyone; it’s just us, and hopefully, God willing, nothing will happen,” Moreta Galarza said. “We are in a moment of celebration and Christmas, but all around us there’s uncertainty about what might happen tomorrow.”

For this family, it will be a quiet Christmas dinner at home with their kids praying and staying indoors, as they are scared of going outside.

Man prepares to spend Christmas without detained husband 

Matthew Marrero’s husband, Allan Dabrio Marrero, was detained inside 26 Federal Plaza on Nov. 24 as they applied for a Green Card. With his beloved separated, shackled, and eventually transferred to the Florida detention camp known as Alligator Alcatraz, Matthew Marrero says he will observe the holiday by praying for his husband before journeying to Connecticut to be with his family.

Yet Matthew Marrero does so with a heavy, breaking heart. 

“I’ve kind of been disassociating from it, just because it’s supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, and I don’t have any of those big reasons right now. I will be spending time with my family back home in Connecticut. I plan on going to church, I’ll go to the Christmas Eve Mass, you know, and pray,” Marrero said.

Sitting inside his Brooklyn apartment, surrounded by photos of his husband and holding another, Marrero is just another New Yorker who will be enduring Christmas without his husband.
Matthew Marrero’s husband, Allan Dabrio Marrero, was detained inside 26 Federal Plaza on Nov. 24 as they applied for a Green Card.Photo by Dean Moses