Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently told NBC News that “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.” Then she went further: any DACA recipient may be detained and deported, and urged them to self-deport.
DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a U.S. immigration policy designed to provide work authorization and temporary protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. DACA is not a permanent legal status but rather an exercise of prosecutorial discretion that the US government — across both political parties — has supported for decades to protect many young immigrants from detention and deportation.
Every day, there is a new immigration headline. A new rumor to chase down. A new rule to memorize before it changes again. It’s relentless. It’s exhausting. And the instability is by design. For some, these headlines are just noise. For DACA recipients, they’re a nightmare realized. On the ground, words echoed by administration officials are already affecting communities — showing up in arrests at airports, workplaces, and outside corner stores.
DACA recipient Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago was detained while boarding a flight for a work trip out of El Paso, Texas. Her arrest came without a warrant, and Santiago has now been transferred to a federal immigration processing center, where her status in the country remains uncertain.
Javier Diaz Santana, a deaf and mute DACA recipient, was detained during a raid at his work site. When he tried to identify himself, officers confiscated the tools he relied on to communicate. Javier spent nearly a month in an immigration detention center in El Paso, cut off from his attorney and family. To add insult to injury, Javier was given paperwork in Spanish— a language he cannot read.
Jose Valdovinos was detained outside a Circle K, while in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by his wife. When his wife asked why Jose was being detained, officers told her, “DACA is no longer considered a legal status in the U.S.” She reminded them that he had a work permit and was employed. “It doesn’t matter,” the agents said, before opening the car door and taking him away.
Right now, we don’t have clarity on why certain DACA recipients are being targeted for detention. We don’t know if these detentions are isolated, the start of a broader shift, or simply the result of mixed messages filtering down to local enforcement. What we do know is that the gap between what’s on paper and what’s happening in real life is widening — and DACA recipients are the ones paying the price.
August 14, 2025 AILA PUBLICATION
If you have questions about DACA, when to renew and work and travel questions you can call us at 775 826 2099 John Carrico Esq. Family Visa and Immigration Services