Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez showed up for a green card appointment in Sacramento, California, and was deported the next day.
Estrada Juarez, who came to the United States when she was 15 years old, is among tens of thousands of immigrants with legal protections under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that has shielded them from removal from the country.
The 42-year-old hotel worker and mother of a 22-year-old U.S. citizen is now stranded in Mexico, according to a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration seeking her return.
California “is the only home I have ever truly known,” Estrada Juarez said in a statement shared with The Independent.
“I built my life in Sacramento, raised my daughter there, and worked hard for years under DACA to support my family,” she said. “I followed the rules and showed up to my immigration appointment believing I was taking the next step toward stability. Instead, I was taken away from my daughter and forced out of the country overnight. I just want the chance to return home to my family and the life we built together.”
More than 200 DACA recipients were arrested between January and November last year, and at least 86 were deported, according to Homeland Security data provided to members of Congress, though the Trump administration has provided lawmakers with conflicting data.
Estrada Juarez showed up for a scheduled green card interview at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office on February 18 alongside her daughter.
She was arrested after the interview, according to her complaint.
“Maria’s deportation was unlawful and violated basic principles of due process,” according to her attorney Stacy Tolchin.
“She had a valid DACA status, she appeared for her immigration appointment as instructed, and she should never have been removed from the country,” Tolchin added. “Through this lawsuit, we are asking the court to order the government to correct this violation of the law and return Maria to the United States immediately.”
The complaint states that Estrada Juarez had previously received a document stating that she is barred from returning to the U.S. for 10 years because an immigration court judge had ordered her removal.
But the lawsuit argues she has never received such an order and has never been in removal proceedings, let alone been seen before an immigration judge.
The Department of Homeland Security argues the government ordered her removal in 1998 — when she was still a child — “and she was removed from the United States shortly after.”
“She illegally re-entered the U.S. — a felony,” according to a spokesperson for DHS. “She was arrested and her final order re-instated. ICE removed her from the U.S. on February 19, 2026.”
Her arrest and removal has outraged members of Congress who have repeatedly pressed Homeland Security officials and Secretary Kristi Noem for information about DACA recipients in government custody.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited Estrada Juarez’s case last week during Noem’s testimony. The secretary said she was not aware of her removal and would “look into it.”
“News of DACA recipients being arrested and deported is deeply troubling,” Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California said in a statement last month, after DHS officials confirmed the arrests and removals of dozens of DACA recipients.
“These arrests disrupt families, harm communities, and inflict unnecessary social, emotional, and economic costs,” he said. “DACA recipients go through strict background checks every time they renew this protection, and the Trump administration has not hesitated to arrest immigrants with no serious criminal convictions and falsely label them the ‘worst of the worst.’”
In statements to Congress, DHS has reported 270 DACA recipients were arrested and 174 were removed last year, though a separate review sent to lawmakers said 261 DACA recipients were arrested and 86 removed.
The discrepancies between the two responses “demonstrate gross incompetence or intentional misdirection,” according to Democratic Reps. Delia C. Ramirez and Sylvia Garcia, who have called on DHS to provide a full accounting by March 13.
“We know that Noem and DHS have refused to abide by the protections that DACA provides to Dreamers. It is clear that DACA recipients are at great risk; we must have transparency,” Ramirez said.
Nearly 134,000 DACA recipients had obtained lawful permanent resident status as of March 31, 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service, citing the most recent available data.
There were 533,280 active DACA recipients as of December 31, 2024.
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