A quiet upheaval is unfolding in homes, schools, churches and workplaces across the United States, as families try to prepare for –– or avoid –– an encounter with immigration authorities.

Some have left the United States after decades of building lives here. Others have considered giving up their unborn child for adoption, so the baby could have a better future.

Parents are naming guardians for their children in case they are detained or deported, while others have stopped working, shopping or even leaving home, relying instead on neighbors and churches.

The choices are deeply personal. Some are irreversible.

Emma Confesor was pregnant with her fourth child when a question she had never imagined began keeping her awake: Would her baby have a better future raised by someone else?