DACA recipients are arrested despite deportation protection

MCALLEN, Texas — Jacob Vijandre was getting ready to go to work as a mechanic when six vehicles showed up outside his Dallas-area home. Federal agents jumped in, one of them pointed a gun at him, and took him into custody.

Vijandre received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that has protected hundreds of thousands of people from deportation since 2012 if they were brought to the United States as children and generally stayed out of trouble. The Trump administration said it targeted Vijandre over his social media posts. The independent videographer and pro-Palestinian activist described his arrest in early October to his lawyers, who passed the information on to journalists.

His arrest and that of several others this year signal a change in how the United States treats DACA recipients as President Donald Trump’s administration reshapes immigration policy more broadly. The change comes as immigrants face increased scrutiny, including on their social media, when they apply for visas, green cards or citizenship or to request the release of their children from federal custody. The administration also sought to deport foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian activism.

DACA was created to protect recipients, commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” from immigration arrests and deportation. They are also allowed to work legally in the United States. Recipients reapply every two years. Previously, if their status was at risk, they would receive a warning and would still have a chance to fight it before immigration officers arrested them and began efforts to deport them.

Watch: ‘Deportation Trap’: Immigration agents arrest immigrants at mandatory court check-in

In response to questions about any changes, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying that people “who claim to be Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are not automatically protected from deportation. DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.” DACA recipients can lose their status “for a number of reasons, including if they commit a crime,” she said.

McLaughlin also alleged in a statement that Vijandre made social media posts that “glorified terrorism,” including a tweet that she said celebrated Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in a 2006 U.S. raid.

Vijandre’s attorney, Chris Godshall Bennett, said Vijandre’s social media activity is “clearly” protected speech. He also said the government did not provide details about the posts identified in court documents.

Vijandre is among about 20 DACA recipients who have been arrested or detained by immigration authorities since Trump took office in January, according to Home is Here, a campaign created by pro-DACA advocacy groups. The administration is seeking to terminate his DACA status, which could result in his deportation to the Philippines, a home he has not visited since his family came to the United States in 2001, when he was 14 years old.

DACA has faced legal challenges

DACA survived the Trump administration’s first attempt to repeal the program when the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the administration did not take adequate steps to end it.

There have been other attempts to terminate the program or place restrictions on recipients.

This year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling denying work permits to DACA recipients living in Texas. The Trump administration recently submitted its plans to a federal judge who will determine how they will work.

The administration also issued new restrictions on commercial driver’s licenses that will prevent DACA recipients and some other immigrants from obtaining them. Last year, 19 Republican states denied DACA recipients access to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The number of states where immigrant students can qualify for in-state tuition has dwindled since the Justice Department began prosecuting states this year.

“This administration may not be trying to completely end DACA the way it did the first time, but they are getting rid of it,” said Juliana Macedo de Nascimento, a spokeswoman for United We Dream, part of Home is Here, a coalition that tracks public cases of DACA recipients who have been arrested.

Detained DACA recipients question their arrests

Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago Santiago, a 28-year-old activist from El Paso, Texas, was arrested in August despite showing immigration officials a valid work permit obtained through the DACA program.

Days later, federal officers arrested Paulo Cesar Gamez Lira as the 28-year-old father arrived home in El Paso with his children after a doctor’s appointment. The agents dislocated his shoulder, according to his lawyer.

Both Santiago and Jamez Lira were detained for more than a month while their lawyers petitioned for their release.

Marissa Ong, an attorney for Santiago and Jamez Lira, said the government failed to notify any of her clients of any intention to terminate their DACA status.

“DACA recipients have a constitutionally protected interest in their continued freedom,” Ong said, adding that “the government cannot take away that freedom without providing a good reason.”

DACA recipients can lose their status if they are convicted of a felony, high misdemeanors such as those involving harming others, driving under the influence or drug distribution, or three or more misdemeanors. They can also lose their status if they pose a threat to national security or public safety.

DHS claimed in a statement that Santiago had previously been charged with trespassing and possession of drug paraphernalia and that Jamez Lira had previously been arrested for marijuana possession.

Ong said that when the lawyers asked for their release, “the government provided no evidence of any prior misconduct by any individual.”
Vijandre, the Dallas-area man who was arrested in October, remains detained in a Georgia detention facility. His lawyers say he received notice two weeks before his arrest that the government planned to terminate his DACA status, but was not given a chance to fight it.

“I think the administration has drawn a very clear line, at least for now, between citizens and noncitizens, and their goal is to keep as many noncitizens out of the country as possible and make it as difficult as possible for noncitizens to enter the country,” said Godshall Bennett, Vijandre’s attorney.