WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A post made by President-elect Donald Trump on Truth Social has people asking questions on mass deportation efforts that undocumented immigrants could face during his second presidential term.
Javier Gonzalez has been in the United States for 24 years but faced his own deportation back in 2018.
"I know so many people and they're extremely concerned because they call America their home," Gonzalez said. "They left 30 years ago, where are they going to go? It's almost like you're not from here but you don't belong anywhere else.
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Gonzales is the general manager at Pizza Al Fresco and an overwhelming amount of support from the community fighting for him to stay helped his case, along with a clean criminal history.
48 hours before Gonzalez's one-way ticket back to Mexico, his attorney called him to tell him he could cancel his flight.
He took his case to federal court and is now a few months away from meeting with a judge to hopefully get his green card. It's a court day he said has taken over 20 years to obtain, due to a backlog in the system.
"I was concerned, obviously to leave my 3 daughters, going back to a country where you don't really make money that was my worst nightmare, and that was my motive to fight," said Gonzalez.
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Gonzalez said his biggest dream is to be an American citizen, which is now something he fears could be deferred.
"Sometimes I wonder, am I going back to square one and starting all over again," said Gonzalez.
As Trump promises mass deportations, the a move could affect an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.
Local immigration attorney Richard Hujber told WPTV's Michael Williams that this matter has been top of mind for his clients. Hujber said a backlog in the immigration court system which may slow down the deportation process.
"It's going to be really complicated because there are certain resources that are obviously very limited in terms of ice agents in terms of carrying out what these plans are," Hujber said.
Hujber said in Florida alone there may be close to 2 million undocumented immigrants. According to Reuters, during the first Trump term 1.5 million people nationwide were deported amid COVID-19 setback
Hujber hopes the administration prioritizes deporting people with criminal history as well as new asylum seekers over those that have been here for decades, now with families without committing crimes.
