18-year-old left raising four siblings after Border Patrol detains Guatemalan parents in Florida
Aug 14, 2026·Location: FL
Country of origin: Guatemala

Abraham Domingo and Maria Leiva, a Guatemalan couple who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, were pulled over and detained by Border Patrol agents on August 9, 2026, while driving with their five children near Greenacres/Lake Worth, Florida. Domingo worked as a plumber and electrician, while Leiva managed the household; agents said the family's car had a license plate flagged as belonging to a non-citizen. Their 18-year-old daughter Wendy, a U.S. citizen who had just turned 18 and was driving because her parents could not, was left in charge of her four younger siblings, ages 3 to 16. A video showing the children crying and hugging their parents goodbye circulated widely online. The parents are now held in separate detention facilities in Broward County, and an immigration judge has ordered Leiva deported. Wendy said she now plans to work two jobs to support her siblings instead of attending college classes she had been accepted into to study to become an ultrasound technician, saying, 'I never thought both my parents would get taken away at the same time, leaving me in charge of my four siblings.'
Timeline
Sources
- Con solo 18 años consigue dos trabajos tras el arresto de sus padres y cuida a sus cuatro hermanos
- “Todas las responsabilidades cayeron sobre mí”, dice joven que quedó a cargo de sus 4 hermanos tras la detención de sus padres por ICE
Telemundo·Aug 12, 2026·archived copy
- Florida teen left to raise siblings after immigrant parents detained
- 'Leaving us all alone': Border Patrol arrests Lake Worth parents in front of U.S.-born children
WLRN·Aug 12, 2026
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