My Family Divided: One Girl's Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a non-governmental organization with almost 2 million members and volunteers. It works to protect the rights laid out in the US Constitution and was founded on principles of fighting for and maintaining individual rights and freedoms, such as freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and rights to healthcare and privacy, among many others. Today, the ACLU places much of its focus on those rights which are being actively targeted across the country, including LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and reproductive rights, the right to vote, and immigration rights. The ACLU works in courts and statehouses across the country to oppose policies that infringe on rights and fight for policies which promote them. The ACLU has experienced controversial attention for its support of groups like the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazis but claims that it supports “free expression and assembly,” not particular ideologies. Guerrero supports the ACLU’s efforts in fighting for the rights of immigrants across the country.

Deportation refers to the legal actions taken against undocumented immigrants to remove them from their place of residence and send them back to their country of origin. In 2023, over 170,000 immigrants were deported from the US, leaving millions of children and family members without their loved ones (“