Fearing increased immigration enforcement, undocumented immigrant Julio Mendoza and his American wife, Sasha, made the difficult decision to self-deport to Mexico with their three children, all of whom are US Citizens.

Pittsburgh

Julio Mendoza, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, and his wife Sasha, a U.S. citizen, made the decision to leave the United States with their three children, all of whom are U.S. citizens. Their choice was driven by concerns about stricter immigration enforcement and the potential risks Julio faced if he remained in the country. 

The family spent their final days in Pittsburgh saying goodbye to loved ones and preparing for the transition to life in Mexico. They acknowledged the emotional and practical challenges of the move, including language barriers for their children and leaving behind their home and community. The decision was described as a necessary step to ensure the family's safety and stability.

Inside a family’s move to self-deport from the U.S.

These are the main pictures from our house that we didn't want to just throw away. Sasha Mendoza has the impossible task of packing up her family's life in Pittsburgh into a handful of suitcases. It's really hard to tell a four-year-old that they can't bring their toys or their stuffed animal. There's just not enough room. We can't put a stuffed animal and then have no pants. I've literally never felt anxiety the way that I have in the last few years here. So you are saying bye to the U.S. for good? For good, yeah. Yeah, for good. Fearful of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, Sasha, her husband Julio, and their three kids are leaving behind the life they built together. What are you the most excited for in Mexico? The pool. The pool? And the beach. Julio is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Sasha and their three children are all U.S. citizens. They decided to make the move together only moments after Trump took office. There was an executive order being signed and that was her call first. She said, like, what do you think about moving to Mexico? And I said, honestly, at this point, yeah, let's do it. We're going to move to Mexico. We're going to move to Mexico, not today. And with that, the family began to wind down their lives, sifting through keepsakes and moving out of their home. Say bye to the house. Bye. Bye. Miss you. When you were dating, did your status as being undocumented come up at all? On our first date, we kind of like were mentioning it without mentioning it. And at one point he ordered a drink and he asked for extra ice. And I said, no, we don't we don't do ice here. And he was like, hmm. And that was like the only thing we needed to say. So, by the way, Julio crossed the U.S. southern border when he was 11 years old and he lived in Pittsburgh ever since. One of his first concerns when we talked about moving is like, how am I going to watch the Steeler games? You're a Pittsburgh native for all intents and purposes. Oh, my God. Yeah. What made Trump a second term more nerve wracking for you that to come to a decision that you had to leave the country? There are no limits. There are no limits on being a target. The only main concern is like he looks brown, he looks different, he don't speak English. He's the one. It doesn't matter. That's where things stand tonight in the case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. They were confronted with their worst nightmare when Kilmar Abrego-Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador. I can see myself in that and I don't want us to wait until we're in the same situation. There are people who will say, you came to the U.S. illegally, why didn't you do it the right way? What do you say to people? If you were to be put in my situation at my age to tell me do it the right way, the whole process pretty much takes about 15 to 20 years. By that time, I don't think my kids or anyone's kids who are starving or in a dangerous situation can wait 15, 20 years for you to come here and start working. What did we say that we could get when we get there? NPA is stronger. No, we did not say that. How did you approach the conversation with your kids? They know the realistic part of it, which is that it will be very difficult for them to adapt to, mostly language wise. It's like our biggest thing. They're not anywhere near fluent and they are going to be going into a school that is Spanish speaking. Who's that? That's you! For Sasha, leaving the U.S. also means saying goodbye to the places she's called home. You grew up at this house. What is it like for you to leave this house and what it represents to you? It is definitely hard because, yeah, there's a lot of good memories. This has always been like the kind of comeback place. As far as we know, we won't be able to do that. We've kind of all decided that today is most likely the last time that we'll all be in the same place at the same time. Hours of research behind them, the Mendoza family spent their final days in Pittsburgh saying goodbye to family and friends. Stay in touch. I love you. I love you too, big dog. Stay safe. Stay safe. It's a decision not taken lightly, but for Julio, no other choice. Rolling the dice, we'll be staying here. That will be rolling the dice. Playing with my life, playing with my kid's life, playing with my wife's life. That will be a gamble. I would say it's taking a gamble. I'm taking a certain win on this one, for sure.

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