A deported DACA recipient is asking a federal court to order her immediate return to the U.S., challenging the lawfulness of her speedy removal.
Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez’s deportation to Mexico garnered the attention of Democratic lawmakers who are pushing the Trump administration to allow her to return to the U.S. along with dozens of others who came to the country as children and held deportation protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The Department of Homeland Security deported at least 86 DACA recipients and detained more than 261 from Jan. 1 to Nov. 19 of last year, according to the agency. President Donald Trump unsuccessfully tried to end the Obama-era policy, which provides deportation protections and work authorization for undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors.
Estrada Juarez came to the U.S. at 15 and lived here for 27 years until immigration authorities detained her at a green card interview on Feb. 18 and deported her the following day. She lived in Sacramento with her 22-year-old daughter.
“I followed the rules and showed up to my immigration appointment believing I was taking the next step toward stability,” she said in a statement. “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.”
Her attorney filed a lawsuit on her behalf, made public Wednesday, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. It challenges the deportation, arguing that Estrada Juarez was removed from the country without notice of a lawful removal order or an opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
“Maria’s deportation was unlawful and violated basic principles of due process,” her attorney, Stacy Tolchin, said in a statement. “She had a valid DACA status, she appeared for her immigration appointment as instructed and she should never have been removed from the country.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement claims Estrada Juarez received a removal order in 1998 and was deported. The complaint against DHS states she was not aware of the decades-old order and that she was not presented with one dated for 2026 at the time of her deportation last month.
Estrada Juarez has been a DACA recipient since 2013 and most recently traveled outside the country with permission from the federal government in 2014, according to filings in the lawsuit.
“Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons including if they’ve committed a crime,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, home of Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press and Stocktonia.
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