Woman on crusade to help U.S. citizens with undocumented parents
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- For Nora Sandigo, Friday night is playtime with the kids.
"You hold her like she's your own," Sandigo said. "I love each one of my children."
Her "children" are from so-called "mixed-status" families.
The kids are citizens, born in the U.S., but the parents are undocumented immigrants, many facing the threat of deportation. There are hundreds of thousands of them in immigrant communities like Homestead, Florida, where Sandigo has done something remarkable.
She's become the legal guardian, not just for this group -- but for 1,029 kids in total.
Sandigo spends every day fielding calls from worried parents looking to sign over legal guardianship in case they are deported.
"Nobody knows where they go, nobody thinks if they have a roof, if they are eating," Sandigo said.
Though she can't house all of them, she helps provide basics and collects toys to give away to the children and their families.
While the Obama administration deported some parents -- it's estimated more than 100,000 U.S.-born children lost a parent every year -- Sandigo is equally critical of President Trump's aggressive policies.
"This is not a political issue," Sandigo said. "This is just a humanitarian issue. They are American citizens and they need help."
Sandigo has two daughters of her own, but has taken in teenagers Valerie and Matthew Trevi whose parents were deported to Colombia.
"It's really hard" to be without their parents, Valerie said. "I miss them so much ... it's been a year," she said before starting to cry.
She's helping guide the Trevis teens through their high school years, hoping their family can eventually reunite -- and that others won't be separated.
