“I am The Legal Guardian of 1,029 Children.” Nora Sandigo shelters the children of undocumented parents in deportation proceedings.
Nora Sandigo is the legal guardian of 1,029 children whose parents have been deported or are in deportation proceedings. They range in ages from 1 day old to 17 years old. I learned about Nora while watching a segment on Noticiero Univision called, The Guardian of the Children. I was so touched by it, I had to learn more. The piece showed Nora Sandigo sitting across a mother who was signing a power of attorney naming Nora the guardian of her 3 children. The woman, an undocumented mother, feared deportation and wanted to take legal steps to leave her young daughters in safe hands.
Nora told Univision, “You just witnessed an incredibly painful moment for this mother. She just signed a document authorizing me to have temporary custody of her 3 daughters.” The eldest daughter, 8, had refused to go to school that morning fearing her mother might be gone by the time she got back from school.
I called Nora to ask about her foundation, the children that she loves as her own, and the political climate in Miami.
Nora, what is the situation in Miami regarding undocumented families? How do you take care of 1,029 children?
Of the 1029, there are about 300 that need urgent assistance. The children are either completely alone or suffering from extreme poverty because their main caretakers have been deported.
Among the deported are families that have lost everything. Hard working families that built themselves from the ground up. They had businesses; they had purchased homes and they were parents. The children have lost it all. Their lives have come tumbling down.
Through my foundation, we provide them with everything, a roof, food, clothes and love. It is run by volunteers and allies who run online campaigns to help us financially.
How big is your home?
My home is not that big, but I own two of them. One has 9 bedrooms and the other 7. I don’t house all of the 1,000 children in my home. We have access to many other homes through friends and partners who are business leaders and owners. Thanks to their generosity, we have access to homes where the families can stay.
What is it like to be so many children’s legal guardian?
It means, carrying out all the normal activities of a mother. They are like my children. I love them as much as I do my own daughters. I’m always checking in on them.
You can always find me at home. The press lives with us, too.
Do you know of similar foundations in California that support the children of deported parents?
I travel to California, too. If there is any family in an urgent situation due to deportation proceedings and a parent wants to sign a power of attorney and needs me to pick up their child, I will get on a plane and come assist them.
If needed, I could dedicate a day or so to help the families in California. I have contacts in San Diego, San Francisco, and in Oakland. I haven’t received calls from California, recently, but I have helped families from California in the past.
I go where I am needed.
How do you keep up with so many children that have so many needs?
I have been doing this for the last 29 years. I’m originally from Honduras and moved to the U.S. during my teen years from Europe. As a young woman, I opened a set of businesses that today operate smoothly and have become fruitful. I am the only owner of a number of them. I have two daughters that are grown and don’t ask me for anything. They are independent and love what I do. They are also very helpful.
We didn’t come to this earth to accumulate capital, but to help and accumulate blessings instead. I pray for good health to continue doing what I do.
How do the families find you?
I have never advertised what I do. Families and children somehow find me. Currently, I have a young man from India staying with me. I have another from Europe; some from Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. They come from all over the world.
I spend my days visiting the children. I also work with a team. Sometimes, one of the parents is still here. So some of the children who stay with us still have one parent who has not been deported.
When I visit them, I hug them, talk with them and explain the situation. I tell them how much they mean to me, and to God, and that many people in the world love them and will fight for them so that, someday, they can reunite with their parents.
This is all normal to me. I have done this my whole life.
How did you get involved with this type of work?
When I first came to the United States, I started working with a nonprofit that worked with the United Nations. My focus was working with immigrants. I immediately felt a connection, a sense of mission. I really enjoyed working with immigrants, since I am also an immigrant, and helping them made me happy.
What happens to the children when there is absolutely no one else?
In that case, they will live with me until they grow up.
Have any of the children gone off to college?
Yes. One of my young girls is attending Georgetown University, and she is studying to become an attorney. She’s in her third year. I’ve raised her since the age of 11.
To me, they are my children. And they are there for me, too. When I get sick, I have a battalion of children at my side. If anything happens to me, they are right there. If they are sad, we are all sad. We hug each other and console each other. We are a family.
Do you have a team of helpers?
Yes. There are many volunteers. Sometimes, I think the person that needs the most help is me. The children have my unconditional love and support.
But I carry a heavy emotional toll. You have no idea of the magnitude of emotions and worries that I carry everyday.
How do you comfort them when they are sad? The first days of transitioning from their parents’ deportation, to coming to live in Miami must be traumatic.
I talk with them. I play with them. At the beginning, they go through a period when they don’t want anything at all. They just want to cry. I tell them that they are not alone and that life will go on. I remind them that their parents are alive, and that as American children, when they grow up, they will be able to visit them frequently.
I also tell them I will never replace their parents and that I will never allow them to be adopted by strangers.
These are the parents’ and the children’s greatest fears. That they will be taken by the state, adopted by strangers and abused.
But staying with me gives them some comfort. By the time I pick them up, the parents have already talked to them about me and about what will happen. They tell the children “with Nora you will not be sent away with strangers. You will not be adopted. Nora will respect and protect you.” They trust me and they know they will never be abused here.
Do they stay in touch with their parents?
Some parents are able to send letters and call. This is a great source of emotional and spiritual help. This, and prayer.
They can leave at 18, but they have always returned. We tell them, all we have done is not to make you feel that you owe us anything. All that we do is so that one day they can become successful.
I am a human being like any other.
How are the older ones doing?
We have many of our children attending universities. Some are studying dentistry, engineering, and some have joined the Marines. We also have exemplary students. One of them, the young man from India, is 15 years old. His parents were deported to India and they made me his legal guardian. This young man has been invited to speak at the United Nations about children’s rights and human rights.
We are at a point when our children are growing up to become advocates with powerful voices. They are true representatives of the bright future of the United States.
When the whole world has seemingly abandoned them, discarded them as second or third rate citizens, here, they are being raised with love and expected to succeed and thrive. It is hard to believe that so many people don’t care about these precious children, about their emotional trauma, about whether they are eating or sleeping. How can this be?
How much does it cost for parents to sign a power of attorney for you?
Nothing. Not even a dollar. There may be a $5 charge for a notary public, but most will do it for free. We don’t make a business out of caring for the children. I have always kept both worlds separately. Business is business and charity is charity. So many nonprofits have opened and closed because their mission was murky and they had too many goals. I only have one goal. To serve these children and honor my word to their parents.
What types of businesses do you run?
I run a number of care giving businesses, like retirement homes, health related businesses. I have many licenses. I also run farms and sell palm trees.
How can we support your work, Nora?
There are thousands of ways to get involved and raise awareness. You took the time to call.
Children are beautiful. Where there are children, God is present. How can there be such hardness of hearts? We need advocates, voices, story tellers, volunteers.
Share what you learned and tell stories that open locked hearts. Perhaps there are many who want to help but are not aware of how these children suffer. I would tell people, notice your neighbor’s sufferings, your friends’ sufferings, the stories in the news. If someone needs you and you are in a position to help, I hope that you will.
In terms of supporting our foundation, we always need food, and we accept donations.
Nora, Miami is not currently a Sanctuary City. Does this present a problem for your work?
It has definitely made things more complicated, but families still come. We interviewed with CBS yesterday, and I told them, the children keep coming. They feel safe here. This is their own sanctuary and if need be, I will be their fierce defender.
TESTIMONIALS from Nora’s children.
“It is very difficult because I have never been separated from my parents, but I feel very good because I came back to the U.S. and Nora has been like our second mom. I want to go to college and become a doctor so I can help people in the future.”
Valerie Trevi-Parents were deported, 15 y.o.
“Please stop the deportations now. Not just for my mom, but for the other kids, My sister and my mom pray and cry every night for my dad, who was deported to Guatemala and we can’t see him anymore.
Jason Garcia-Dad deported to Guatemala, 10 y.o.
“I am an undergraduate student at Georgetown University and I want to become a lawyer. My parents are extremely proud of me. I feel extremely grateful to God for all the opportunities He has given me, and to Nora and her family for taking me in and treating me like her daughter.
Otherwise, I would not be in this country.”
Cecia Soza-Parents Deported, student at Georgetown. 19 y.o.
To visit Nora’s foundation, click norasandigochildrenfoundation.org
If you or someone you know need to get in touch with Nora, she can be reached at nora74@bellsouth,net or by calling her foundation at: (786) 287 1339
To watch La Gran Madre, a documentary on Nora’s work, click here.
