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Undocumented Immigrants In Homestead Terrified & Troubled By Trump's Actions

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The uncertainly many are feeling around the country includes some in our community who largely go unseen. They're the farm workers who quietly toil away each day in the fields.

Blanca Giles finds herself wondering what she would do with her six U.S. born children, ages 15 to 1 and a half, if she were to be deported.

Giles and her husband work at a plant nursery in Homestead making about $560 a week combined.  She says taking her children back to Mexico is not an option.

"In Mexico, where I'm from in Guerrero, there's too much violence, too many gangs. I wouldn't dare take my children back there," said Giles, who's been in this country illegally for 18 years.

She says she worries about her fate now that President Donald Trump is in office.

"He says a lot of things that I don't understand. Every day he changes things. He says one thing, he says another. It worries me," she said.

Another mother, who does not want us to identify her, says she came to this country 20 years ago.

She says if she were to get deported she wouldn't have the means to start a new life in Mexico with her 16 and 12 year old boys, both born in the U.S.

"I don't have money saved up. How would I take them if I've spent all my money here?" she asked.  "We buy diapers. We buy soap. There goes all of our money. It all goes back to this great nation.  I hope Trump thinks about that before signing any mandates."

The single mother says she works picking fruits and vegetables at a farm in Homestead and makes anywhere from $200-$500 a week depending on how much she picks.

"It's hard work because we get wet. We inhale chemicals, work out in the mud. We don't mind getting dirty because that's how we get the green bills to pay our bills," she says.

She's hoping President Trump listens to their plight before issuing any executive orders that could affect her future and that of her children.

"I hope he listens to his conscience and thinks about what he's doing. He should thank God he's never known poverty like the people here," said the woman.

According to the Pew Research Center, there are about 450,000 undocumented immigrants in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

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