The parent can either remain separated from his/her family, the family can relocate and endure hardships, or lastly, the deported family member can attempt to re-enter the US by other than authorized means.  However, if the family chooses the latter, many risks are in play.  The deportee may try to enter the US through the US-Mexican border.  If the deportee is already in Mexico, he/she has made half of the journey already.  If they are traveling from a Central or South American country, they have to navigate through México.  In México they face extreme dangers such as corruption, robbery, rape, kidnapping, harassment and even death.  Women are known to take birth control so that when—not if—they are raped, they will not get pregnant.  The migrants are targets in México for easy money by corrupt police officers and narco trafficers.  They also face Mexican immigration officials.
The US- México border has become one of the most dangerous places in the world.  Large organizations are formed to make money with smuggling many desired drugs into the US.  Guns and other weapons are smuggled from the US into México.  Many of the Mexican states that border the US are completely run by large organizations who make money from drugs, smuggling people and kidnapping among many others.  The deportee that chooses to cross this border must navigate through these areas and is subject to many extreme dangers.  
Not only does the deported father or mother have to find a way into the US through highly corrupted areas, he/she faces another obstacle, the unforgiving desert.  Deaths on the border due to the elements have risen 27 percent since 2012.  As more fathers and mothers are attempting to reunite with their little children, more are dying in the desert.  Lastly, the deportee must navigate past the Border Patrol.  If they are picked up by Border Patrol, they face up to two years in prison.
Re-entry after deportation is a federal felony.  The first entry is a civil misdemeanor, the second is a federal felony.  The past five years, this has been the most frequently prosecuted federal crime.  Last December, 2013, 52 percent of all convictions were re-entry after deportation.  The second highest was drugs at 12 percent.  On average the last five years, re-entry after deportation has been highest by at least 50% than drugs, which has been consistently second.  This means that the US government spent more money on prosecuting re-entry migrants than all other federal offenses combined in December 2013, which is just one randomly chosen month. The yearly average from 2012 was 42 percent of all convictions were re-entry and drugs—which was second—was 21 percent.
Congress has mandated that 34,000 prison beds be filled by the unauthorized immigrant population each night.  This is being done through re-entry and arresting immigrants who do not have papers when they are stopped at traffic stops.  It does not matter if they are a driver or passenger.  If they are “suspect” of not having papers, the patrol officers detain them and are calling Border Patrol and ICE.  Unauthorized immigrants are spending almost two years in federal prison before they are deported again.  More than half of the prisons that these immigrants are detained at are private prison facilities.  Many times there is no federal oversight of the policies and procedures.  Although many reports say that a large percent of the deportees who are held in prison and/or are deported are criminals, the question lies in what is considered a criminal.  Many “criminal” aliens have no criminal record other than driving infractions.  The majority of immigrants are taken into custody through driving without a license or other minor crimes.  According to the Justice Department, unauthorized immigrants are the third largest growing prison population. Last year they represented 11 percent of the federal prison population.  That means one in ten of all prisoners are in prison for attempting to reunite with their family or a re-entry charge.  Some call it a crime, others call it human.  While Congress is mandating prison beds be filled by this population, private prisons are spending millions of dollars lobbying Washington.
