Portuguese woman self-deporting after 12 years in New Bedford: ‘My heart and soul will be here'

An undocumented Portuguese woman living in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is packing her bags and preparing to leave the U.S. before Immigration and Customs Enforcement finds her and her family.

Vera, who asked to have her identity concealed, has decided to self-deport after living in the country illegally for 12 years.

"I'm leaving America, but my heart and my soul will be here," she said.

Vera arrived to New Bedford on a tourist visa with her husband and two children after leaving the Portuguese islands of the Azores. She now feels like she's overstayed her welcome.

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"I don't want to be afraid of going grocery shopping, I don't want to be afraid of just leaving my house and be arrested in the streets," she said.

Her fears took over her peace after witnessing the actions of the Trump administration on immigration.

"It's a very big self-deport operation that we're starting," President Donald Trump said during a Thursday cabinet meeting.

The president and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are threatening millions of immigrants without legal status to register under the CBP Home app and leave the country, or else.

"Those individuals that are here illegally, if they haven't registered, then they can be charged criminally, and they can face fines up to $1,000 a day and face deportation if they don't go home, and they'll never get the chance to come back to America," Noem said at the cabinet meeting.

"So it gives you a real incentive. Otherwise, they never come back, they'll never be allowed, once a certain time goes by, which is probably going to be 60 days," Trump added.

"They came to visit, they decided to stay, they built their life, and they've been under the radar," said Immigrants Assistance Center President Helena DaSilva Hughes. "But now, under Trump's administration, they are in fear."

DaSilva Hughes said she knows of about 1,000 people in similar situations as Vera on Massachusetts' South Coast — including many who, years ago, escaped economic hardship in the Azores.

Deportations to the self-governing islands are not new, DaSilva Hughes said. She estimates thousands with legal documents were sent back between the 1990s and early 2000s due to drug convictions — triggering a social crisis.

She's been meeting with representatives of the Azores and other Portuguese officials to avoid repeating past mistakes and have support programs for returning Azoreans.

"Their children were born in the United States and never been in [Azores]," DaSilva Hughes said. "So I think that's going to be their biggest challenge is with the schools, and at the same time, finding employment."

DaSilva Hughes said she will be flying to the Azores to meet with government officials. She said her top priority is getting people to prepare for the real possibility of having to abandon their lives in the U.S. by helping designate people who can be responsible for legal documents, the reunification of their children, and control of their assets.

Vera is buying her plane tickets to Portugal over the weekend and plans to move out of the country by the summer, hoping to avoid immigration authorities in the meantime.

The Public's Radio first reported on her plans to self-deport.

Leaving America is the hardest thing she's had to do, she said. She's trying to sell all her belongings, close her two businesses and start from zero — again.

"Doing it all again; losing everything and going back to nothing," she said.