Texas Mom Fights Deportation Despite DACA Status

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Texas mother, Jessica Treviño, who was deported to Mexico despite having permission to stay in the U.S., has taken legal action against the federal government. Treviño, who arrived in the U.S. as a child, initiated the lawsuit after being informed her permission to stay would be revoked due to ‘unauthorized travel’ linked to her deportation.

Treviño, 34, and her husband were arrested in December after federal agents approached them in a South Texas Home Depot parking lot. They were deported to Matamoros, Mexico, which is located just south of Brownsville, Texas. Their three children, all U.S. citizens, remain in the U.S. with family near the border.

Treviño was brought to the U.S. at age 7 and gained legal permission to remain at age 20 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). DACA, introduced in 2012, does not grant legal status but allows individuals brought to the U.S. as children to stay temporarily and acquire work permits. DACA recipients must maintain a clean record and are prohibited from traveling outside the U.S.

Her attorney, David Rozas, stated that Treviño’s DACA status and work permit were valid until April 2027. Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent notice of intent to end her status, citing ‘unauthorized travel’ on March 25, 2026, coinciding with her deportation. Rozas petitioned a federal judge for a declaration that her expulsion was unlawful, requesting her return to the U.S. and continued DACA validity.

“The government had no lawful basis to remove her, and we filed this petition to demand she be brought back home,” Rozas said.

An immigration judge had issued a voluntary departure order for Treviño in February while she was in ICE custody, but DACA status should prevent her deportation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Treviño expressed her longing to return home, noting the seven months of separation and her wish to be present for her children’s upcoming school start.

Under the current administration, 86 DACA recipients have been deported and 241 others arrested as per a DHS letter to Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois. DACA advocates argue Treviño’s case is part of a pattern threatening the program.

“This is what a deliberate, systematic effort to destroy DACA looks like in practice: target recipients one by one, manufacture justifications after the fact, and leave their children to grow up without them,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a policy group supporting immigration rights.