Patricia Riso, a mother of two, has been in the United States illegally for more than 30 years. And although she has seen immigration authorities arrest co-workers at the factory where she sews garments, she has never been targeted and never dwelt on the possibility of deportation.
But after seeing TV reports of recent immigration raids, Riso is asking questions she previously avoided: Who would care for her children -- U.S. citizens -- if she were deported? And what about rent, bills and food for her children?
"We have to plan for these things so that a bad thing doesn't become worse," she said after attending a workshop that helps parents make family plans in case of deportation.
Work-site arrests of illegal immigrants have increased tenfold nationwide to nearly 5,000 last year, according to the federal government. Images of the raids have been splashed on television news reports and on the front pages of Spanish-language newspapers around the country.
The jump has led some illegal immigrant parents such as Riso to reconsider lackadaisical attitudes toward deportation.
Some advocates are asking immigrant families, many of which include at least one U.S. citizen, to make emergency plans for rent, bail and lawyers. Others are asking them to write certified letters designating caretakers for their U.S.-born children.
"People don't want to think about these things; they think it's never going to happen to them, but they need to prepare," said Antonio Bernabe of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "It's like having a disaster plan.
"We save money to buy a big-screen television, to send to our home countries or to build a house," he said. "But we never save money in case we are deported."
Some people who favor more immigration controls say the fact that people are preparing for deportation proves that increased enforcement is a powerful deterrent.
"When you show that you're going to enforce the law, however minimally, people understand that," said Rick Oltman, spokesman for Californians for Population Stabilization, a group that favors sharp reductions in all immigration. "The fact that they're making plans shows that they understand that . . . and hopefully will communicate that to family and friends in their home country."
At an immigrant rights workshop at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church near USC, immigrant organizer Bernabe urged Riso and other parents to set aside money to be used in case they are picked up in an immigration raid.
