A family in Queens faces an uncertain future following the deportation of their father. Jessica Supliguicha, an Ecuadorian native, is grappling with the emotional and financial fallout after her husband, Jorge, was taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days before their newborn daughter was born.
Jorge Supliguicha was apprehended on September 6, 2023, while his wife was waiting outside, eight months pregnant. He was taken into custody, leaving Jessica to give birth to their daughter, Maite Cristina, on October 5, 2023, without him. The couple had been married just four days prior to his arrest, a moment that was supposed to signify new beginnings for the family.
Inside their Queens apartment, Jessica cradles her month-old baby while her nine-year-old son, Dylan, tries to comfort her. “It’s Huggy Wuggy!” he says, wearing a blue costume in anticipation of a Halloween dance at school. Despite his excitement, the atmosphere in their home is heavy with sadness and uncertainty. Dylan, who was born from a previous relationship, looked up to Jorge as a father figure. Now, he feels isolated and alone, relying on his pet cat for companionship.
The couple’s journey together began when they reconnected after two decades, having known each other since they were teenagers. Both had experienced their share of hardships and fears, particularly the violence that plagued their homeland. Jessica became a U.S. citizen in 2023 after a decade of residency, while Jorge sought asylum after losing a brother to gang violence in Ecuador. Their shared experiences brought them together in New York, where they found solace in their relationship and began to build a family.
But Jorge’s legal issues complicated their lives. He had a deportation order that he was attempting to resolve. After being fitted with an ankle monitor, Jorge was ordered to appear in court, where he complied, only to be detained by ICE. Since that day, Jessica has not seen her husband, and the emotional toll has been profound.
Reflecting on the day of Maite’s birth, Jessica described the mix of joy and despair. “She was a girl that I was going to lose from the beginning. She overcame many things. But I never thought that, at eight months, she would also have to overcome the absence of her father,” she shared. The fear for Jorge’s safety in Ecuador remains a constant source of worry. With violence rampant and the threat of facing the same fate as his brother, Jorge is currently in hiding.
As the family awaits the approval of an I-130 petition—used by U.S. citizens to bring a non-citizen relative to the U.S.—Jessica faces the daunting prospect of returning to work in three weeks to support her family. She is overwhelmed by the stress of making ends meet, especially with the burden of rent looming over her.
Jessica expressed her hopes for the future, wishing for the chance to reunite her family. “All I can do is move forward and find a way to do things the way they’re supposed to be. Hoping that the paperwork will one day be approved,” she stated. The emotional toll of their separation is profound, and Jessica urges for policies that would allow families torn apart by deportation to reunite. “Experiencing family separation is awful. My daughter is very young; she can’t understand, but there are older children who can,” she added, highlighting the broader impact of such policies on families like hers.
As this family navigates the challenges of separation, they cling to hope—a hope that one day they will be together again, as a whole family.
