'Jane the Virgin', 'Orange Is the New Black' Star Diane Guerrero Discusses Deportation of Her Parents, Brother [Watch]

"Jane the Virgin" and "Orange Is the New Black" actress Diane Guerrero recently opened up about her parents and brother being deported from her Boston home when she was just for 14-years-old.

In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times and a follow-up interview with Michaela Pereira on CNN's New Day, the 28-year-old actress discussed the hurt and pain that stemmed from her parents' forced removal. She also addressed President Obama and the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

Guerrero's parents emigrated from Colombia to the U.S. during a time of economic strife. Her parents chose to make New Jersey their home because they had friends and family there, but later moved to Boston after Guerrero was born. Throughout her childhood, her parents fought the frequent and fruitless battle to acquire citizenship, even losing funds to individuals posing as attorneys. All the while, the young actress was aware of her parents' legal status, and she panicked each time she entered her home and no one was there.

Then, one day, those fears were actualized. Her empty home sat recently abandoned, with that evening's dinner partially constructed on the stove and the lights still on, shining throughout the house.

Her neighbors broke the news to her. They told her that immigration police had taken her parents away. She was left to fend for herself until friends of the family graciously took her in, enabling her to continue her education at the Boston Arts Academy.

"Not a single person at any level of government took any note of me. No one checked to see if I had a place to live or food to eat, and at 14, I found myself basically on my own," Guerrero said during her op-ed. "While awaiting deportation proceedings, my parents remained in detention near Boston, so I could visit them. They would have liked to fight deportation, but without a lawyer and an immigration system that rarely gives judges the discretion to allow families to stay together, they never had a chance."

Guerrero pushed toward every accomplishment with no applause from her absent family, and she was always afraid that she might overstay her welcome within her foster home. While the actress' story is a sad one, she knows that her story is one of many and that she's more fortunate than most.

Her brother's deportation meant that his toddler daughter would grow up without a father. Much older, his daughter now is serving time in jail. Without parental guidance, many immigrant children become part of the foster care system, or they became a part of the juvenile justice system, which often funnels juveniles into adult corrections.

"President Obama has promised to act on providing deportation relief for families across the country, and I would urge him to do so quickly. Keeping families together is a core American value," said Guerrero, who also volunteers with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit group that advances immigrants' rights. "Congress needs to provide a permanent, fair legislative solution, but in the meantime families are being destroyed every day, and the president should do everything in his power to provide the broadest relief possible now. Not one more family should be separated by deportation.

"People like my family started out trying to do things the legal way but, what people don't realize [is], it is so difficult for some people to get documented. ... My parents tried forever. This system didn't offer relief for them, and what I'm asking for is to create or find a solution for families."

Nationwide, about 4 million of an estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants live with U.S.-born children, a factor that is expected to be a major factor when granting priority for deportation relief, according to a report issued by the Pew Research Center. According to the Washington Post, in Maryland, 5.7 percent of children in primary and secondary education have an undocumented parent. The number is 5.5 percent in Virginia and 4.9 percent in DC. Also, Nevada has 18 percent and California and Texas have 13 percent. The national average is 6.9 percent.