‘I won't have a parent': KC siblings write emotional letters to save dad from deportation
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two Kansas City children are living a nightmare—separated from their father and unsure if they'll ever see him again.
Juan David Patino, a 37-year-old single father, was taken into custody by federal agents last Friday shortly after dropping off his kids at school.
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Now, his children, Selina and Dominic Patino, fear he could be deported within days to Colombia—a country he hasn't seen in 27 years.
The children have written heartfelt letters addressed to the government, pleading for mercy and asking for their father's release from federal custody.
'It would suck if he would have to go back – cause that's our only parent,' said Dominic Patino in an emotional interview with FOX4. 'It's been pretty rough without him.'
Patino came to the United States when he was just 10 years old. His sister, Lady Wright, told FOX4 that the family didn't have a choice.
'We were children. We didn't have an option—we had to come with my mom' Wright said.
Patino is a recipient of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA protects undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, allowing them to work and study legally. But it also comes with strict limitations—any criminal offense can threaten their status.
In 2018, Patino was pulled over and found with marijuana and a gun in his vehicle.
Though Missouri is a permitless carry state, federal law prohibits DACA recipients from possessing firearms. He was placed on probation.
Now, that incident has resurfaced—placing him squarely in the crosshairs of renewed immigration enforcement under the Trump administration's crackdown.
FOX4 has followed Patino's story for more than three years. In a 2021 interview, he broke down in tears while discussing his fight to remain in the U.S.
At the time, he won. But today, the outcome is far more uncertain.
'To pick up people and just ship them off instead of giving them a fair trial—I don't think that's fair,' Wright said.
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'There are so many—it's overwhelming. I don't want him to leave,' she said.
Selina and Dominic are now in Texas, waiting and hoping. Their father is being held at a federal detention center, but the family says they have no idea what happens next.
They don't know if he'll get due process—or if he'll be placed on a plane back to Colombia.FOX4 will continue to follow this developing story.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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