A supporter of President Donald Trump has said she now regrets her vote after the father of her child was taken into custody by federal immigration agents.
“I voted for Trump. And it cost me immensely,” Sara Baruth wrote in a post shared on social media.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out the “largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” After returning to office in January, the White House said the federal government would treat anyone living in the country illegally as a criminal. The administration has also taken steps to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Baruth, who lives in the Midwest, said she began to regret her choice in November’s election after the father of her eldest child was caught up in the administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. She did not identify her partner by name.
She described how their relationship started in high school, grew into a family and is now coming apart under what she called the rigid and unforgiving nature of the immigration system.
“His biggest fault? He wasn’t legal,” she said.
Baruth wrote that her partner had lived in the United States nearly his entire life, arriving before he could walk, never getting into trouble and repeatedly trying to fix his immigration status. She said he traveled to Washington, D.C., hired attorneys and followed every rule he could — all without success.
According to Baruth, the father of her daughter is now being extradited, putting enormous strain on their family.
“My oldest child is loosing her father because of Trumps immigration policies,” she wrote. “Do I feel like I made a mistake? Possibly. Ask me again when I’m not so emotional,” she added.
Baruth said she was not seeking sympathy, but wanted people to understand what is really happening under the current enforcement push.
She warned that deportations are not just hitting criminals but are tearing apart families who contribute to their communities.
“I didn’t post this for sympathy. But yall need to know it’s not just ‘bad’ people with a criminal record being deported. These people are fathers……providers. Head of the household. The enemy wins by destroying the family unit with this policy,” she wrote.
Earlier this year, ICE detained the wife of Bradley Bartell, a Trump voter. Camila Muñoz, a Peruvian national who overstayed her visa while seeking permanent residency, has since been released.
Real estate lawyer Bachir Atallah, another Trump supporter, and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, were stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Vermont while returning from a family trip to Canada. Atallah, who has been a U.S. citizen for a decade, was held for hours.
During the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, ICE said it arrested 66,463 people and carried out 65,682 deportations. Sara Baruth wrote in another post: “He was many things but at the top of the list was a superb father. That man would go to the ends of the earth to look for the last pencil if that’s what I told him our daughter needed.”
Jen Garrison Stuber, advocacy chair at the Washington Homeschool Organization, replied in a separate message: “I’m sorry about your husband. He didn’t deserve this. We didn’t deserve this. But you and millions of others voted for this. Trump said he was going to do this. And we tried to tell you to listen to him. And we pleaded with you on behalf of us all.”
The Trump administration is expected to press ahead with its tough immigration enforcement strategy.
