Trump Voters Face Immigration Dilemma as Policies Impact Family

A conservative couple in Texas, who supported Donald Trump in the last election believing his immigration policies would target criminals, are now facing the possibility that one of their family members could be deported.

Patrick Keating and his parents supported Trump's immigration crackdown, expecting it to lead to the expulsion of criminals. However, they now face the prospect of losing Patrick's Honduran wife, Anyi Hernandez-Escobar, who could be forced to leave the United States. This potential deportation would mean their 16-month-old daughter might have to leave with her mother, while the seven-year-old boy Hernandez-Escobar has raised could be left behind.

"If I could go back, if my vote would somehow change everything, I’d go back and vote Kamala just so we don’t have to deal with this," Keating said.

Hernandez-Escobar arrived in Texas from Honduras in 2018, eight months pregnant, and was granted parole after a brief detention. She has since reunited with her sister, established a life in Texas, attended immigration check-ins, and had her son Daniel. She later married Patrick Keating, who became a father figure to Daniel, and the couple welcomed their daughter Emma in May 2025.

Despite their efforts to navigate the U.S. immigration system, Hernandez-Escobar's case has reached a critical juncture. Their petitions, an I-130 and an I-130A, were approved in June after nearly two years of waiting, but a Houston immigration judge rejected Hernandez-Escobar's request to temporarily close her removal proceedings. This decision followed a June agreement between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Department of Justice that ended a Biden-era policy allowing immigration judges to administratively close certain cases.

According to their attorney, Jennifer Lopez, the judge had previously indicated he would administratively close Hernandez-Escobar's case while she pursued an immigration pathway through her marriage. "Originally, the judge had told her, when Biden was in, 'Go ahead and file your I-130, come back to me and I will administratively close your case,'" Lopez said. "They did that, but by the time they got back to him, Trump had been sworn in and they had changed all the rules."

Because Hernandez-Escobar entered the U.S. without authorization, she cannot apply for her green card while remaining in the country. Her attorney stated that she would likely need to depart for Honduras to seek an immigrant visa through the U.S. consular process, along with a waiver of inadmissibility. However, this waiver is not available to individuals in removal proceedings. Without the option of administrative closure, the family may have to relocate to Honduras.

An additional complication arises with Hernandez-Escobar's seven-year-old son, Daniel. Patrick Keating has raised Daniel since he was 18 months old, but he does not have legal custodial rights. Daniel's biological father has reportedly refused to relinquish his parental rights and has no contact with the child. The family is consulting a family-law attorney to explore the possibility of Patrick adopting Daniel or if the boy could stay with his grandparents if his mother, stepfather, and baby sister leave the country.

"I’ve raised him basically since he was a year and a half, but I have no custodial rights over him," Patrick explained. "Only Anyi and his biological father do. But both parents have to sign off on the passport."

Hernandez-Escobar, who is unable to vote, expressed that she supported Trump's promise to remove criminals. "There was a lot of crime in the country. I thought it was good to deport the bad people," she said. "Now, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or a bad person."

Ingrid Keating, Patrick's mother, still supports some of Trump's policies, including tougher border enforcement and action against gang members. However, her family's situation has altered her perspective on the immigration debate. "Immigration has been such a mess for so many years, but of course it’s easy not to pay too much attention when it’s not your immediate family," she said. "Now, all of a sudden, it really brings it home."

She emphasized the importance of family unity: "Daniel needs to be with his parents and his sister. He loves them dearly. He loves us, but as his grandparents. But children need to be with their parents."