Since his return to power, Donald Trump led a harsh immigration policy, even signing a series of executive orders aimed at profoundly reforming the country's immigration system.

Under this aggressive speech, the cases of families Separated families have increased across the country. One such tragedy was experienced by the Rivera family in North Carolina, who, after months of threats and fear, finally succumbed.

Thus, a few days ago, Jenni Rivera, a math teacher from Raleigh, saw Fidel, her husband of 17 years and best friend, board a plane bound for Mexico after immigration laws left her family with no choice but to separate them.

With tears and uncertainty about the near future, Fidel left his two daughters, with no other option: "It's not about me, it's about my family... my wife and my daughters are American citizens. I just want the best for them. Every father should be able to be with his family."

On a page that reflected the long compendium of similar cases, Fidel Rivera boarded a flight back to Mexico. After 30 years in the United States and 17 years of marriage, he made the painful decision to self-deport, leaving behind his wife and daughters Mackenzie (17) and Isabella (15), rather than continue living in constant fear of being detained and deported.

According to testimony before American Families United (AFU), Fidel did not want his daughters to join the list of about 100 US citizen children, from newborns to teenagers, who were stranded without parents due to this year's immigration enforcement measures.

“Fidel is an incredible human being,” Jenni said. "I didn't want to see him arrested and held in a detention center, knowing what happens in those places. If his spirit was broken or if he came out different, I simply couldn't bear it."

Like 1.4 million mixed-status couples in the United States, The Rivera family has lived with the reality that marrying a citizen does not automatically guarantee legal status, leaving families caught between living in fear or living apart.

“We lived locked in a box for so long. Every decision we made was conditioned by the fear that they would take Fidel away,” Jenni explained. The recent increase in immigration enforcement put an unbearable strain on the family. "We couldn't continue living with that anxiety. It was destroying my health, and I wasn't going to allow it to steal the years I had left to enjoy life." For Fidel, the hardest part about leaving is missing the everyday moments with his daughters, especially their soccer games.

“What I'm going to miss the most are the soccer games with my daughters. That's where I found my peace,” Fidel said. "During the games, I don't think about work problems, I don't think about what I have to fix at home. I just watch my daughters play, and it's like I'm on another planet. That's what I'm going to miss the most."

Fidel worked for the past 17 years as a well-respected electrician for a company near Raleigh, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Jenni is an experienced math teacher at a time when math teachers are in short supply nationwide.

Although Fidel's wife and daughters will remain in the United States for now, Jenni is already planning to retire early so she can leave the country and be with her husband.

“I'm going to use all of my retirement income and leave this country to spend it somewhere else. We'll sell this house and buy something else, and it won't be here,” Jenni said. "The United States is losing money on families like ours. That doesn't make sense."

Yet, like the Riveras, family separation and child “kidnapping” are the daily fears faced by migrants who go to work, recreation centers, or courts. This is due to raids in which masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents use excessive brutality to tear them from the arms of their loved ones and take them to detention centers.