DACA recipients swept up in Trump mass deportation campaign, advocates report
DACA supporters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. (Photo by Robin Bravender/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Advocates Thursday raised alarm over immigrants with special deportation protections facing detainment across the country, as the Trump administration continues its aggressive mass deportation campaign.
Home is Here, a coalition of advocates for immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, status, has documented a pattern of immigration agents targeting DACA recipients. At least 18 DACA recipients are detained, according to a Home is Here tracker.
So far, Home is Here has pinpointed DACA recipients detained in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Virginia.
The immigrant advocates were joined at a press conference by congressional Democrats and family members of DACA recipients currently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawmakers included Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Alex Padilla of Carlifornia and Reps. Sylvia Garcia of Texas and Delia Ramirez of Illinois.
“The Trump administration is killing DACA piece by piece,” Garcia said.
DACA tied up in court
The Trump administration tried to end DACA during President Donald Trump’s first term, but the Supreme Court blocked the effort. Republican-led states have challenged the legality of DACA and its fate is tied up in an appeals court.
There are roughly 550,000 DACA recipients, a program created under the Obama administration for undocumented children brought into the country without legal authorization by their parents.
DACA allows that group to be shielded from deportation and obtain work authorizations and driver’s licenses. DACA recipients have to reapply every two years for a renewal fee of $520 and pass a background check.
Ramirez said the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign is indiscriminately targeting immigrants and has instilled fear in Latino communities.
“The whole (Trump) administration are waging a campaign of terror against our neighbors, against our own families, against our loved ones as they advance their fascist agenda and they try to cast immigrants as a public enemy,” said Ramirez, who is married to a DACA recipient and is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants.
The Democrats said they would continue to speak out against the detention of DACA recipients and provide assistance in litigation for families. A handful of Democrats have sued ICE over blocked access to detention facilities to conduct oversight.
An arrest, and detainment
The wife of a DACA recipient in ICE detention, Alejandra, who spoke at the press conference, said that she saw through a home security camera her husband, Paulo Cesar Gamez Lira, being arrested by masked men in the driveway of their Texas home.
Alejandra said their children were in the car and they could be heard screaming on the video. Her husband remains in detainment. The ACLU of New Mexico said in a statement he is 28 years old and the father of four U.S. citizen children.
“No family should ever have to endure that kind of terror,” she said. “For more than a decade, Paulo has been able to renew his status without issues. He has always followed the rules, done everything this country asked of him, and yet, under this administration, it feels like none of that matters anymore.”