Regina Higuera made the tough choice to leave the only home she had known since she was fifteen years old after 36 years of living in the United States. The 51-year-old Los Angeles textile worker, who was well aware that her work permit had expired years prior, self-deported on June 7, 2025.
Fearing for her own safety and wanting to safeguard her American-born children, the mother of three left for Mexico without enough money to seek for documents, which was a turning point for the whole family. “We were heartbroken that she felt so scared for her safety that she had to make this decision, but we were ultimately supportive,” her daughter, Julie Ear, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
As immigration raids increased more frequently in her Highland Park area, Higuera had already been forced to leave her employment because it was unsafe for her to stay there. According to reports, the Trump administration has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make 3,000 arrests per day.
https://youtu.be/KFVSTv3xpnQ?si=1HZd-xwvmisCQePT
“We have friends that were deported, some were missing for a week without knowing anything about where they were,” Ear reveals. Higuera thought that even basic activities, such as going to the community or conducting errands, were too dangerous. “She felt like a prisoner in her own home,” Ear admits. “She has been working in this country for decades to only live paycheck to paycheck.”
Targeting more than 10 million undocumented immigrants, President Donald Trump has pledged since assuming office to carry out the greatest mass deportation in American history. According to CBS News, ICE is detaining a record 59,000 immigrants as of June 23, 2025, with almost half of them allegedly having no criminal history.
Higuera and her family went to Tijuana, Mexico, and crossed the border to get to TIJ International Airport because they were worried about being questioned or arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. Higuera then took a plane to Mexico City and drove to Guerrero, Mexico, which took around five hours.
The MSM is running a sympathy propaganda story about Julie Ear whose mother Regina Huegera self deported to Mexico because she was “tired of living in fear.” Regina has been here since she was 15, she was here 36 years already. When her work Visa expired a few years ago she… pic.twitter.com/waDcClwUMy
— SonnyBoy🇺🇸 (@gotrice2024) July 12, 2025
Fortunately, Higuera was already building a two-bedroom house in Guerrero on land he had inherited. When she reached retirement, she had originally intended to go back home, but because of the political situation, she made the decision to leave the nation sooner rather than later.
Ear claims that her mother is “a hard-working taxpayer who has been working 12-hour shifts since she was 15 six days a week” and that she has “no criminal record.” Higuera was thrilled to be reunited with her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in more than twenty years, even though she had to leave behind her husband of twenty-five years, children, and grandchildren.
“She says that she feels at peace because she doesn’t feel stressed about paying rent, but she misses us all so much,” her daughter explains. In August, Ear and her siblings intend to pay their mother a visit. Higuera and their stepfather intend to relocate to Mexico shortly.
She couldn’t afford to file papers to stay here, but, “Luckily, Higuera had inherited land and was already in the process of building a two-bedroom house in Guerrero.” https://t.co/vWbAz0bhl7
— Jeff W (@Jdub82_Kick) July 13, 2025
“She is trying to lean on family out there so she doesn’t feel lonely, but she is having a hard time adjusting to the cultural differences… they do things differently out there,” Ear reveals. Ear, who has more than 100,000 followers on social media, prioritizes speaking up against the “injustices” occurring in her hometown of Los Angeles and throughout the nation.
She has participated in multiple protests, joining others in the struggle for change, and is actively connected with grassroots organizations, lending help where she can. “I would like to clarify that I do not want this to be an advertisement for self-deportation, but I also want to let people know that if they are thinking of taking this step, it is not the end of the world and that there are options,” Ear tells PEOPLE.
It will always baffle me how easily people will believe that the poor, the sick, the marginalized, and the immigrant are the cause for all their problems, rather than the people in the most powerful positions in their country who refuse to fix problems and exploit them instead.
— Rev. Benjamin Cremer (@Brcremer) July 9, 2025
One of the most difficult things she has ever had to do was say goodbye to her mother. For the first time, Ear, her siblings, and their stepfather spent Father’s Day without their mother on June 15. “Going to spend family time without her just feels so off,” Ear said in an emotional TikTok video. “I keep asking myself, did I do the right thing? Did we do the right thing?”
Ear understands that while her mother’s decision to self-deport was the best one for her family, it might not be an option for others who are unable to return to their home countries due to social, political, or economic reasons.
“The reason that it was easier for us to make this decision was because we have family out there to lean on,” Ear explains. In order to find the bravery, direction, and self-assurance to create a life that genuinely reflects who they are, she advises people in comparable circumstances to rely on their communities, whether they be friends, family, or support systems.
“My mom chose to take control of her life and did not allow this country, which she spent years contributing to, tell her that she was a criminal because she is not.”
