A Mother’s Love Cannot Be Detained

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This Mother’s Day, many of us will pause to celebrate the women who have shaped our lives — the mothers and mother figures who have nurtured us, protected us and carried both our burdens and our dreams, often in ways we may never fully see.

Motherhood is, at its core, an expression of presence. It is found in the quiet, unseen moments of care: in the middle-of-the-night wake ups, in the steady work of providing, in the countless small decisions made each day for the sake of a child’s well-being and future. It is a love that draws near, that stays, that remains.

From the beginning of scripture, we see that family matters deeply to God. Before the establishment of government or even the church, God establishes the family. Throughout scripture, we see his concern for those whose families have been disrupted — widows, orphans and foreigners — and his call for his people to protect and care for them.

And yet, for many mothers today, the presence that family is meant to provide is being painfully disrupted.

Not by choice, but by circumstance. By policies and systems that create distance where there should be closeness, leaving children without mothers, spouses without partners and separated families carrying grief that was never meant to be theirs alone. As outlined in Joined Together, Torn Apart: How U.S. Immigration Policies Are Separating Families, a report by World Relief and the National Association of Evangelicals, current immigration policies are contributing to the separation of hundreds of thousands of children and spouses, revealing just how widespread and deeply felt this disruption has become. The report projects the number of families likely to be separated if announced immigration policies continue. An estimated 1.3 million U.S. citizen minor children and spouses are likely to face separation from family.

This Mother’s Day, we remember mothers who are navigating the painful reality of a separated family — not as an abstract issue or political talking point, but as a lived experience carried in their daily lives. For followers of Jesus, their stories invite us to draw near, to grieve what has been torn apart and to ask how God may be calling us to protect the unity and dignity of families today.

A Love Interrupted

T. had been in the United States for just over a year when everything changed.

After fleeing violence in Burma, she and her family were beginning to rebuild their lives in Minnesota. Her days were full in the way many mothers of young children understand — caring for her family, adjusting to a new country and tending to her infant, who was just five months old and still breastfeeding.

When immigration officials arrived at her apartment, she complied fully, providing documentation that showed she had followed the legal process required of her, including filing for her green card on time. Still, she was asked to step outside, and within hours, she was placed on a plane to a detention facility in Texas.

Her baby remained behind.

For three weeks, T. was separated from her children, missing irreplaceable time with her infant while also facing serious health concerns that required medical attention. The separation was not only physical; it interrupted a critical season of bonding, care and healing for both mother and child.

In Isaiah 49:15, God asks, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” The question points to something we recognize instinctively — that a mother’s connection to her child is deep, embodied and enduring.

And yet, even bonds as sacred as these can be strained by forces beyond a mother’s control.

A Love That Crosses Borders

For Marwa, separation has not lasted weeks, but years.

After working alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan, she was called to assist during the evacuation in August 2021. What followed was a moment of chaos that would alter the course of her life. Though she pleaded to remain behind until her family could leave together, she was forcibly placed on a plane, separated from her children and loved ones in an instant.

Since then, her story has been marked by both loss and perseverance. Her family has faced violence, displacement and profound uncertainty. Her children, now older, remain far from her, growing up across borders while she continues to advocate for their reunification.

At the same time, Marwa is navigating her own health challenges and caring for a child facing serious illness — carrying layers of responsibility and grief that no mother should have to bear alone.

Psalm 34 reminds us that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Marwa’s life reflects both the depth of that brokenness and the resilience that can coexist alongside it — a determination to keep going, even when the path forward remains uncertain.

A Love That Endures Distance

Isabel’s story reflects a quieter, but no less painful, form of a separated family — one that many mothers are carrying in the current moment.

After more than two decades of building a life together in the United States, she and her husband Alfredo found themselves facing an impossible decision shaped by the complexities of the immigration system. Although Isabel is a naturalized U.S. citizen, a legal technicality from years earlier meant that Alfredo had no clear pathway to remain in the country lawfully.

For years, they chose to stay together, rooted in their faith, their family and their church community in Chicago. They pursued every option they could, seeking legal guidance and striving to do what was right. But as immigration enforcement intensified and the risks grew, the weight of uncertainty became too great to ignore.

In June 2025, Alfredo made the difficult decision to return to Mexico.

Since then, Isabel has been living a life divided. As a mother, she now carries the responsibility of holding her family together across borders — traveling back and forth between the United States where their daughter currently resides and Mexico each month, navigating the emotional strain, financial cost and physical exhaustion that comes with it. Her time is split between two places, but her heart remains with her family as a whole.

This is what family unity looks like for her now: not shared daily life, but constant movement. Not the stability she once knew, but a rhythm of leaving and returning, holding on to connection in whatever ways she can.

Their story is not captured fully in numbers or policy discussions. It is lived in airport goodbyes, in disrupted routines and in the quiet persistence of a mother determined to remain present, even when presence requires sacrifice.

Like so many families today, Isabel and Alfredo continue to pray and hope for a path to be together again, trusting that their separation will not be the final word.

What Can The Church Do?

These stories are distinct, yet they reveal a shared truth: a mother’s love does not disappear with distance, and it cannot be undone by separation.

Still, love alone does not remove the barriers these families face.

This Mother’s Day invites us not only to reflect, but to consider how we respond.

Throughout scripture, we see a consistent call to draw near to those who are vulnerable, to advocate for those who are overlooked and to carry one another’s burdens. We are invited into a posture of presence — one that mirrors the heart of God, who sees, who listens and who moves toward those in need.

At World Relief, we continue to walk alongside families navigating displacement and uncertainty — responding in moments of crisis, supporting long-term rebuilding and advocating for policies that uphold dignity and protect families. Together with the church, we can walk alongside mothers with the care, dignity and hope they deserve.

This Mother’s Day, you can be part of that work.

Stand with these mothers today. Consider donating in honor of your mother if their strength and resilience, or even their journey, remind you of a maternal figure in your own life. 

Pray for mothers who are separated from their children and for the restoration of their families. Take time to listen and learn from the stories of those navigating these realities. And consider how you might use your voice to support policies that recognize the importance of family unity.

Because even when distance separates, we are not called to remain distant.

We are called to draw near — with compassion, with courage and with a commitment to walk alongside those who are still waiting to be together again.

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