DACA Mother Sues Government After Deportation Despite Legal Status

Jessica Treviño, a 35-year-old mother of three from the Rio Grande Valley, is suing the federal government after being deported despite holding legal permission to stay in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Treviño was brought to the US at age seven and received DACA status, which allowed her to live and work legally in the country. However, last December, she and her husband were arrested by ICE agents in a Home Depot parking lot in Harlingen after being involved in a car accident.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed Treviño's husband was driving without authorization at the time of the crash, but Treviño disputes this, saying she never signed any documents acknowledging voluntary departure. She spent three months in immigration custody before being deported to Matamoros, Mexico in March 2026.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services sent Treviño a notice of intent to terminate her DACA status due to unauthorized travel outside the country on the same day she was deported. Her legal team argues that her removal was not voluntary and is now seeking her return to the US.