Crucially, FLHC employs members of the community, like 22-year-old TGMC clinic coordinator Lorena Felipe, who lives in the center of Lake Worth Beach. She wants the best for her family and community. As a U.S. citizen with Guatemalan roots, she carries the heavy burden of her family’s shocking history. Every day since, she struggles with the worries that plague most parents. Her parents immigrated as asylum seekers when she was still just 14 years old. They were fleeing a brutal past, which had already taken her grandfather’s and newborn uncle’s lives in 1980. Now, she contends with the fears that cloud her community as well as her home and the asylum seekers who visit the clinic.
Ever since former President Donald Trump moved into the White House, Lorena’s experienced a dramatic shift in her work culture. The atmosphere has changed almost overnight – and unexpectedly – around her.
Vibrant Future
The center today is an eerily quiet place—the opposite of the energy that once flowed through its streets. Locals now tread carefully, fearing arrest or deportation as they navigate their lives in the shadow of power and privilege just across the bridge at Mar-a-Lago.
Even in these challenging times, Lorena’s journey highlights the real impact of immigration policies on families. Her struggles are amplified by the alarming statistics she has observed: approximately 70% of the center’s users who attend regular immigration check-ins or court dates have faced deportation, detention, or have been given an ankle bracelet with an ultimatum to “self-deport” within 90 days.
A Frightening Reality
The reality today for many migrants in Lake Worth Beach is one of fear and uncertainty. Given her role at the TGMC clinic, Lorena finds herself on the frontline of this crisis. She works with undocumented parents to set up power of attorney provisions so their children’s futures are protected in the event their parents are deported. The toll on her mental health is clear. This leads to her receiving threatening phone calls at work, revealing the severe vitriol and abuse they are subjected to amid their ongoing fight.
While in Miami, where she was held for a short period, Lorena was only able to reach Lerma back home three times. The emotional strain was overwhelming. She recalls how her 19-year-old daughter flew to Texas to find her and delivered her passport, ultimately helping Lorena return home.
“I don’t want to tell anybody I was there and I wasn’t allowed to leave. But I ended up calling my mom and dad to get me out. I didn’t want to stress them out but I was terrified I would be transferred to detention in Fort Pierce.” – Cristian Alvarado’s narrative
The juxtaposition between the lives of those who live and work near Mar-a-Lago and the harsh realities faced by migrants paints a stark picture of inequality. As Lorena considers how families are being deported here every day while luxurious dinners are taking place on the other side of this bridge.
The Impact of Policy Changes
Lorena’s concerns are echoed by many in her community, who feel the weight of Trump’s immigration policies pressing down on them. The fear and desperation are real as families try to figure out how to work through a system that is clearly working against them.
Blanco, a longtime community advocate, highlights the distance between privilege and struggle present in Lake Worth Beach.
“That’s what’s so dystopian about it. While Trump comes to host opulent dinners at Mar-a-Lago, across the bridge families are being tormented by ICE. They are being ripped apart literally from their children’s arms as the wealthy party next door.” – Blanco
This closing gap further increases the tension family’s like Lorena’s experience. In addition to living in fear of daily ICE raids, they now have to deal with the added trauma for their children. And yet every day, countless parents instruct their children to concentrate on their studies and don’t concern themselves with the danger lurking outside.
“Don’t stress, just focus on your school.” – Esperanza
The future is still very much up in the air for countless families who, as parents, have been trapped in this spider net of worry and upheaval.
A Call for Understanding
The psychological scars of growing up under this kind of constant threat can be overwhelming for the kids in these homes. As these comprehensive psycho-educational evaluators disclose, environments outside of a child’s control can drastically impact the trajectory of children’s social, emotional, and cognitive growth and success.
“This child is affected by the current circumstance; this may not be a true representation of their ability.” – [No specific person]
These sentiments strike a chord with Lorena as she balances life as a new mom and community trailblazer. These realities continue to inform her understanding of what it means to be a citizen. Those experiences continue to fuel her passion as an advocate for those frequently silenced.
For many migrants the reality can be no less than tumultuous. They are now forced to live under the constant threat of separation from their families, and confusion over their fates. Lorena’s movement work This is Lorena working, as she often does, from the TGMC clinic. She is the lifelong dream realized for countless others who need help but continue to struggle in solitude.