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Illegal immigrant Gabriela Cabrera holds her daughter Gabriela in their West Chester apartment. Gabriela's husband Armando Mondragon, in the picture, was recently arrested for a traffic violation. He is being held in the Butler County jail and is facing deportation. Gabriela and Armando have been in the United States since 1996 and have five children who are U.S. citizens.Click to enlarge

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WEST CHESTER TWP., Butler County — — Armando, just 8 months old and named after his dad, bounces up and down on his mom's lap in the toy-cluttered, kid-friendly apartment.

He wears a red, white and blue T-shirt patriotically emblazoned with "Born in the U.S.A."

His four sisters — Rosa, 10, Karla, 9, Ayoria, 4 and his twin, Gabriela, named after mom — were born here, too, making them all American citizens.

Their parents, Armando Mondragon and Gabriela Cabrera, are not.

Mondragon sits in jail, facing possible deportation. Officials determined his illegal status after he was pulled over for a traffic stop in June. He and his wife have been in the United States for 12 years and in Butler County for five, moving from Kentucky.

For a year Mondragon has been working in landscaping, supporting the family while his wife took care of the children.

"I don't know what to do," Cabrera, 30, said through a translator. "I hardly go out. I relied on my husband."

Her immediate concern is paying bills and avoiding eviction. Since her husband was jailed, she's received some public assistance but not enough for the rent and other expenses, she said.

Their story mirrors that of thousands of others who came here illegally in an effort to start a better life. They came separately, she said. He paid $1,500 for help in getting into the U.S. and she paid $2,700, she said.

"We came here to work ... to get ahead because in our country there are not very many opportunities," she said.

In Mexico, Cabrera said, they harvested strawberries and looked after farm animals.

In the United States, her husband has worked in landscaping and in casinos and hotels, she said. They pay their taxes and try to stay out of trouble, she said. Their children like to play in the park, go to school and eat at McDonald's.

"We're not bad people," Cabrera said. "My husband doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He doesn't have problems with anyone."

The kids miss their dad, she said.

"They cry a lot at night because when he got home from work he used to go walking with them," Cabrera said. "They'd go to the park together."

Cabrera and her husband have had their share of struggles, but they want a better life for their children.

"I want them to be able to study like we were never able to do. I want them never to have to suffer the poverty, being poor, like we had to do when we were children," she said.

Now she and the kids all sleep in one of the apartment's three bedrooms.

"People usually feel safer with the support of their partner ... and now that he's gone I'm so scared sleeping at night ... that someone is going to walk in the door and I don't know who it is," she said.

Firooz Namei, the Cincinnati attorney representing Mondragon, said there is hope for the family. If someone has been in the country for 10 years and their departure would cause hardships to U.S. citizens — in this case, the couple's children — a judge could rule that they are eligible to stay.

First, a hearing is expected next week before an immigration judge in Cleveland on the possibility of getting Mondragon released on bond while the case continues. If that happens, he should be able to go back to work, said Namei.

Cabrera hopes that they will be able to stay.

"We know that we're here without the permission of the politicians, but this is where we want our kids to be," she said.

As she talked, little Armando kept himself busy, bouncing on her lap or in a play chair.

"Muy ocupado," Cabrera said.