A mother named Lucía spent three months at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center without seeing her 14-month-old and 3-year-old children before being deported. She said it was excruciating not being able to explain to the children why she was gone: "They're babies. They don't understand." She said most of the women detained around her were in similar situations — "In this room where I am, there are 56 of us, and the majority are moms" — with some children staying with a spouse and others with extended relatives or acquaintances.