California DACA recipient sues Trump administration over her deportation
WASHINGTON— Lawyers for a Sacramento DACA recipient deported to Mexico last month have filed a lawsuit against the federal government, demanding his immediate return to the United States.
Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, 42, was detained on February 18 during a scheduled interview for her green card application. He was deported to Mexico the next day, despite having active deportation protection through the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
According to the lawsuit, Estrada Juarez, who worked as a district manager at Motel 6, was deported without being served with a legal restraining order and without being given the opportunity to fight his case before an immigration judge.
“Maria’s deportation was illegal and violated basic principles of due process,” said her attorney, Stacy Tolchin. “He had valid DACA status, showed up for his immigration appointment as instructed, and should never have been removed from the country.”
Estrada Juarez’s case garnered the attention and ire of members of Congress, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), after it was published in the Sacramento Bee.
It’s unclear whether an order has been issued to remove him from office, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. And even if a complaint had been filed, “Plaintiff cannot be lawfully removed from the United States while under DACA status,” the complaint states.
The complaint states that the only documentation Estrada Juarez received was confirmation of his physical deportation from the United States, not a deportation order. The document states that he is barred from returning to the United States for 10 years because he was ordered deported by an immigration judge.
The lawsuit says this claim is untrue; Estrada Juarez never went through deportation proceedings and never met with an immigration judge. His arrest during an immigration interview was the first time he learned he had been ordered removed from office in 1998.
The Department of Homeland Security told The Times that a judge ordered Estrada Juarez deported in 1998 and “he was removed from the United States shortly thereafter.”
“He re-entered the United States illegally; this is a crime,” Homeland Security said. “He was arrested and his last warrant was reinstated. ICE removed him from the United States on February 19, 2026.”
In 2014, Estrada Juarez traveled to Mexico using a travel permit known as advance parole for DACA recipients. He legally re-entered the United States on December 28, 2014.
According to the lawsuit, “reinstatement of removal would require unlawful reentry, and since Plaintiff’s last entry was on parole, it would not fall under that ground.”
The lawsuit also includes an urgent request for the federal government to facilitate the return of Estrada Juarez while the case is ongoing.
Estrada Juarez applied for a legal permanent resident permit, or green card, through her 22-year-old daughter Damaris Bello, a U.S. citizen. DACA status is valid until April 23 and a renewal application is pending, according to the lawsuit.
Estrada Juarez said that the USA, where he has lived for 27 years since his arrival at the age of 15, is the only homeland he has ever known.
“I followed the rules and went to my immigration appointment, confident that I had taken the next step towards stability,” he said. “Instead, I was taken from my daughter and forcibly taken out of the country overnight.”
