Jessica Treviño, a Texas mother deported to Mexico despite having legal permission to stay in the U.S., has taken legal action against the federal government. Her move comes after being notified of an intent to terminate her DACA permission due to what authorities described as “unauthorized travel.”
Treviño, 34, filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to intervene. She and her husband were arrested in December after federal agents followed them into a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. They were then deported to Matamoros, Mexico. Their three children, all U.S. citizens, currently live with family near the border.
Treviño arrived in the U.S. at 7 and received DACA status at 20. This program, introduced in 2012, allows individuals who entered the country as children to stay temporarily and work legally. Although DACA does not provide legal status, recipients must maintain a clean criminal record and cannot travel outside the U.S.
Her attorney, David Rozas, highlighted that Treviño’s status and work permit were valid until April 2027. Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notified her of intent to end her status due to deportation by the Department of Homeland Security in 2026. DHS has not commented on the notice.
Rozas filed a petition urging a federal judge in Brownsville to rule Treviño’s removal unlawful. The petition seeks an order for her return to the U.S. and the continuation of her DACA status. He stated, “The government had no lawful basis to remove her, and we filed this petition to demand she be brought back home.”
An immigration judge had issued a voluntary departure order for Treviño in February while she was detained, but the conditions of her DACA status prohibit her deportation by DHS. Treviño expressed her longing to return home, saying, “I would be so blessed to be able to go back home.”
The Trump administration deported 86 DACA recipients and arrested 241, according to DHS information shared with Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois. Advocates see Treviño’s case as part of a troubling trend. Todd Schulte from FWD.us remarked, “This is what a deliberate, systematic effort to destroy DACA looks like in practice.”
Correction: Treviño arrived in the U.S. at age 7, not 8, and received DACA status at 20 years old.