TikTok creator Tony Vara turned to social media to document the detention and deportation of his Salvadoran mother by U.S. immigration authorities. The experience reshaped his life, thrusting him into a caregiving role for his siblings while he continued building an online presence and speaking about immigrant rights.
Tony Vara, a TikTok creator in his mid-20s and a U.S. citizen, has built an audience with eclectic videos that range from pop‑culture commentary to personal reflections. According to Slate’s What Next podcast, Vara’s account, @itonyvara, is part of a broader wave of Gen Z creators who share intimate details of their lives online, including encounters with the immigration system.
In mid‑2025, Vara’s feed changed tone when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took his mother into custody. Slate reports that she is a Salvadoran immigrant who lacks legal status in the United States and that Vara used TikTok to narrate developments in real time as the case unfolded.
Vara, who had moved away from his home state of Virginia as a young adult, told What Next that he flew back as soon as he learned of his mother’s arrest. According to his account on the podcast, his mother had been called to appear in court in connection with an immigration matter. She initially avoided the hearing because she feared being detained, but later appeared to testify. Vara says that when she did, she was taken into custody.
On the podcast, Vara recalls being assured by a courthouse employee that his mother would be released: "We went to the jail, and I talked to the courthouse clerk, and they said, 'No, your mom’s good, she’s going to be released at noon.'" He says the family waited for hours, only to learn that she had already been transferred to ICE custody.
With his mother detained, Vara returned to his extended family’s home in Virginia and took on daily caregiving for his younger siblings, he told Slate. He describes moving in with his grandmother, whom he calls a second mother, and organizing meals, school runs and emotional check‑ins as the family adjusted to the separation.
In the What Next episode, Vara recounts learning later in the summer that deportation was likely after an immigration interview, based on what he understood of the judge’s past decisions. By early September 2025, his mother had been deported from the United States to El Salvador. Slate reports that she then went to stay with relatives in a neighboring Central American country, and that one of Vara’s siblings later joined her there.
According to Slate’s reporting on the case, the Department of Homeland Security said Vara’s mother had previously been removed from the United States in 2007, unlawfully re‑entered the country, and was subject to a reinstated removal order. The department characterized her as a person with a prior immigration felony based on that re‑entry.
Speaking to What Next, Vara says the experience forced him to grow up quickly, deepened a previously strained relationship with his mother, and pushed him to be more deliberate about his finances and responsibilities. Although he briefly considered leaving the United States, he told Slate he ultimately decided to remain: "I do love this country... This is where I grew up."
Vara continues to post on TikTok about his life and about political issues, including immigration, reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights, according to Slate. He has said he intends to keep advocating from within the United States, using his platform to draw attention to the personal impact of immigration enforcement.
