Federal judge orders return of California DACA recipient deported to Mexico
WASHINGTON— A federal judge on Monday ordered the government to extradite to the United States a California DACA recipient who was deported to Mexico last month.
U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins in Sacramento gave the government seven days to extradite Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, 42, and reestablish protections under the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals; “It is as if his impeachment on February 19, 2026 never happened.”
Estrada Juarez’s lawyer argued that he was unlawfully deported within a day of appearing at a scheduled immigration appointment in Sacramento.
The government’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over Estrada Juarez’s case because his petition was filed after he was deported and his removal was a discretionary decision that the government was entitled to make.
Coggins said he found the government’s argument “futile,” stating in his ruling that Estrada Juarez “was removed from office in flagrant violation of the regulatory protections afforded to him under DACA and in flagrant violation of the Constitutional protections afforded to him under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Estrada Juarez said in a statement that he was “overwhelmed with relief and hope” after learning of the court’s decision.
The Department of Homeland Security said it reinstated an expedited deportation order for Estrada Juarez in 1998, when he was 15 years old. But his attorney, Stacy Tolchin, said records show the order did not include supervision approval and was never final, so there was no valid deportation order to reinstate.
Homeland Security previously told The Times that an immigration judge ordered Estrada Juarez’s deportation in 1998 and “he was removed from the United States shortly thereafter.” Tolchin said Estrada Juarez never saw an immigration judge.
Estrada Juarez, who works as a regional manager at Motel 6, has been protected from deportation under DACA since 2013. He applied for lawful permanent residence, or a green card, through his 22-year-old daughter Damaris Bello, a U.S. citizen.
His deportation following a green card interview garnered the attention and ire of members of Congress, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
Tolchin filed the lawsuit asking for his return on March 10.
DACA was created to protect undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children.
As of June 2025, there were more than 515,000 DACA recipients in the United States, known as “Dreamers.” There are 144,000 DACA recipients in California, according to federal data; which is the largest of all states.
