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The presents are not for Christmas morning. 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 keeps them for the more than 1,000 children who are counting on her to become their guardian if their undocumented parents are deported.

She is, as Brooke Jarvis for The New York Times, 鈥渢he most powerful person in many people鈥檚 worlds.鈥�

厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 has the power of attorney for 1,252 children 鈥� American citizens 鈥� who will look to her to take care of questions at school, the hospital or in federal court if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes their parents away.

鈥淲e never planned this,鈥� 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 Jarvis. 鈥淚t was planned by nobody. It just came.鈥�

A former refugee from Nicaragua, 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 wound up in the United States after her family was targeted for opposing the Sandinistas. She got a job with the organization that settled her in the country, helping other immigrants with paperwork, jobs and apartments.

She recalls bringing towels to people shocked by the abundance. 鈥淪o many!鈥� exclaimed one mother of five children when 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 gave her six towels.

Taking on power of attorney for children whose parents are undocumented was never part of the plan. Jerryann, one of 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞鈥檚 two biological daughters, remembers how it started: It was 2009, and a brother and sister, aged 9 and 11, showed up at 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞鈥檚 door with their uncle. Their mother was in detention.

鈥淵ou were like, 鈥極h, they鈥檙e going to stay the night,鈥欌�� Jerryann 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞. 鈥淎nd then one night became forever.鈥�

厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 does not personally house or care for the majority of the children whose parents have given her power of attorney. But a third of the children on her list have already had at least one parent deported, she estimates, and she has never turned away a family hoping that their children could live with her.

The number of families who have sought her out has only increased since President Trump was elected, 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 says.

鈥淗ello Se帽ora,鈥� a recent, unpunctuated message to 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞. 鈥淚 live in North Carolina and I live in fear and stress what do I do I have three children and I don鈥檛 go out and my husband does what can we do.鈥�

Jarvis describes 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 taking two calls at once, one pressed to each ear, advising two families simultaneously.

鈥淚 feel like I am one of those kids,鈥� she Jarvis, 鈥渂ecause I came with the same problem. I had my father and mother, but I was an orphan without them. Separate from their parents, they become orphans, like me.鈥�

More than 4 million American children have an undocumented parent. Jarvis says many of them stop eating or speaking when their parents are deported, or attempt suicide.

These children cannot petition for their parents to stay with them, even though they are American citizens. Indeed, as many as a quarter of all the people deported from the United States are parents of American children. As Jarvis :

In United States family law, 鈥渢he best interests of the child鈥� is a widely accepted standard. Judges are required to use it in every state when deciding custody cases, and dozens of states explicitly list the maintenance of family unity or family emotional ties as primary components of 鈥渂est interests.鈥�

Immigration law is the exception.

Instead, many undocumented parents face an impossible choice: take their children to a country whose language they may not speak and where they may live in danger or in poverty, or leave them behind.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I call a choiceless choice,鈥� David B. Thronson, a professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, Jarvis.

So for many parents, the choice is 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞. 鈥淲hat if there were a sudden wave of children who needed her?鈥� asks Jarvis.

鈥淭hat could happen anytime,鈥� says 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞鈥檚 husband, Reymundo Otero. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for real, you know.鈥�

厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 did know, Jarvis .

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have enough time or resources even for the first hundred kids,鈥� 厂谩苍诲颈驳辞 said. 鈥淓ven for the first 10!鈥�

The Editors.

P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:

• by Mike Elk for The Guardian
• by Jesse Washington for The Undefeated
• by Jessica Testa for BuzzFeed News
• by Santi Elijah Holley for Longreads

蜜桃传媒's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism.聽Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.