Her husband was deported to Mexico. Unwilling to remain apart, she left California to join him.

As the vehicle approached the Tijuana border, Etelvina Lázaro’s son, sitting behind the wheel, asked her again if she was sure.

“I’ve already made up my mind,” she recalled telling him in Spanish. “I’m leaving.”

Related Articles

Lázaro, a 54-year-old grandmother, had lived with her family in San Diego for over 20 years. But after her husband, Margarito, was arrested by federal immigration agents in mid-July and then deported, she made the hard decision to leave her grown children and grandchildren behind and follow him to Mexico.

She is one of several undocumented immigrants who have decided to leave the country on their own amid President Donald Trump’s intensified efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

The federal government launched a process in May dubbed Project Homecoming