WAXAHATCHIE , Texas ( CNN ) -- Julie Quiroz clutches her teddy bear crying . `` Mommy , '' she says softly , as her mother wraps her arms around her and rubs her back . One of her brothers tries to console her . `` You 're going to come back , '' he says . Julie Quiroz , a 13-year-old U.S. citizen , went back to Mexico when her mom was deported . The 13-year-old Quiroz begins to walk away to catch an airplane from Mexico to the United States . Within moments , she rushes back to her mother 's arms . `` Mommy , '' she says again , tears streaming down her face . Quiroz is one of an estimated 3 million American children who have at least one parent who entered the United States illegally , according to the Urban Institute , which researches and evaluates U.S. social and economic issues . In Quiroz 's case , she was born in Washington state , lived there her entire life and went to school there . But her mother , Ana Reyes , entered the United States illegally before Quiroz was born and U.S. immigration officials caught up with her last year on her birthday . Watch how deportation separates family » . `` I was there when they handcuffed her , '' Quiroz says . `` I was there when they took her down . '' Two of her brothers , who had come with their mother to the United States when they were young children , also were taken into custody . It was the start of a downward spiral for Quiroz . When her mother and brothers were deported , Quiroz and her 6-year-old , American-born sister had no choice but to return to Mexico City with them . Her seventh-grade year was spent in a classroom where she did n't understand the language . `` I never belonged there , '' she says . `` I 'd just come home , sit down , cry . I 'd say , 'Mom , I ca n't do it . ' ... I ca n't read or write Spanish . '' She adds , `` I felt like there were no dreams for me . '' Stories like these are becoming more common , immigration analysts say , with American children caught in the middle of their mother or father 's illegal status . A report last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association said these children face `` increasing risk of family separation , economic hardship and psychological trauma . '' `` It 's really hard to imagine something that can be more traumatic than to be forcibly separated from their caregiver . That 's the enforcement climate that we 're operating in now , '' says Miriam Calderon , the associate director for education and children 's policy at the National Council of La Raza , the largest Hispanic advocacy group in the United States . Calderon says the nation needs to enforce immigration laws , but currently there is a lack of a `` consistent and comprehensive standard to ensure that children will be protected '' when undocumented parents are taken into custody . `` Until a major immigration reform is enacted , the country will continue to cope with challenges resulting from the presence of roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants in our workforce and in our communities , '' said Janet Murguia , the president of NCLR , before Congress in May . U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it 's simply enforcing the laws on the books . `` ICE agents and officers are sworn to uphold all of our nation 's immigration and customs laws , '' ICE press secretary Kelly Nantel said in a written statement . `` We can not pick and choose the laws we enforce . Parents make decisions that affect their families everyday . `` There are known consequences for violating our nation 's immigration laws . It 's unfortunate that parents choose to place their children in these difficult situations . '' For Quiroz , her journey from America to Mexico City took an unexpected turn when her plight caught the attention of Joe Kennard , a land developer and Christian philanthropist . Kennard reached out to Quiroz 's mother and told her the teen could live with his family in Texas and enroll in school there . `` You can make all the arguments that [ the mother ] deserved what she got because she was an adult , she made the choice , she was here illegally , '' Kennard says . `` But why [ punish ] the children ? They 're innocent and they 're born here and they 're U.S . citizens . '' His group , Organization to Help Citizen Children , works with churches along the U.S.-Mexico border to provide support for children whose mother or father is deported to Mexico . Kennard hired a private tutor to get Quiroz up to speed for missing a year of schooling . `` She 's conflicted because she knows that she 's got to get an education and this is the only way to do it . But she also feels the love for her mother and that 's the torture . '' Quiroz 's mother then made the incredibly painful decision to implore her daughter to go to Texas , an unbearable decision for the teen to leave her family for her country and her future . Her older brother , Carlos Quiroz , was about 3 years old when his mom took him to the United States last decade . He misses his sister , but knows he ca n't return . `` I have to accept that ... and try to make it work , '' he says . Watch why Carlos Quiroz feels like an American » . He 's working to get a job and hopes to enter college in Mexico . But his mind is still in the land he grew up in . `` I do n't feel like I belong here . I feel like I was taken out of somewhere where I belonged , '' he says . `` My whole life is over there . '' His sister is now living in Texas , adjusting to eighth grade and all the changes around her . When she 's alone , she says it still hurts . `` I want to be in my mom 's arms , '' she says , choking back tears . The dream that keeps her going ? She 's determined to become a lawyer to fight for kids who are forced to endure painful separations . `` My mom only came here to make a better life , '' she says . `` I want to be a lawyer to help people in the same situation as me . '' CNN 's Gregg Canes and Traci Tamura contributed to this report .
one Mexico citizen children are believed to have one undocumented parent . Julie Quiroz , about 3 years old , was born in the U.S. but had to return to U.S. with her mom . `` I never belonged there ... I 'd just come home , sit down , cry , '' she says . Thanks to a philanthropist , Julie Quiroz was able to come back to study ; but without mother .