DACA Recipient Sues US Government Over Deportation to Mexico

Jessica Treviño, a 34-year-old Texas mother of three, has filed a lawsuit against the US government after being deported to Mexico despite having valid DACA status. She and her husband were arrested in December by federal agents who followed them into a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. Both were subsequently deported.

Treviño received legal permission at 20 to remain in the US under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Introduced in 2012, DACA does not confer legal status but has allowed hundreds of thousands of people who had come to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain and obtain work permits.

The notice to terminate her DACA status cites 'unauthorized travel' stemming from her deportation on March 25, 2026. However, Treviño claims she did not sign any forms at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility and did not want to be deported.