A protester carries a sign that reads “My dreams are not illegal” next to American flags as immigrant rights supporters march in Los Angeles March 1, 2025. The march was organized by faith communities along with immigrant rights organizations as a peaceful protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus expressed solemn concerns Thursday about the impact of a recent Justice Department decision that will ease the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people unlawfully brought to the country as children, known as Dreamers.
Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said this Decision dated April 24th from the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals: “Set a deportation target for every single Dreamer in this country.”
The BIA’s decision found that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status is not enough to prevent deportation, making it easier for Dreamers to be expelled from the United States. There are approximately 500,000 DACA recipients.
The case before the three-judge panel stemmed from an appeal by Department of Homeland Security immigration lawyers after an immigration judge halted deportation proceedings for a DACA recipient, Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago, who cited her status as a reason she could not be deported.
Although the decision does not mean that Santiago will be deported immediately, it does set a precedent for similar cases.
Separately, immigration advocates have warned that DACA recipients have been drawn into President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign and were arrested despite their legal status.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat said the decision will allow immigration judges to initially expel DACA recipients without terminating their status.
“It used to be that you had to terminate their DACA status before they were deported,” the New York Democrat said. “Now they could go right ahead and take this egregious action by the Immigration Appeals Board. This is a serious escalation (of) the attack on DACA recipients.”
Justice Department spokespeople did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Trump’s “crusade” against DACA
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said the latest decision was “the Trump administration’s latest move to attack Dreamers.” She criticized Trump for it I go back to his comments that he would “work with Democrats on a plan” to keep DACA recipients in the country.
“This is simply an untenable decision,” she said. “Their decision on DACA is a clear escalation in President Trump’s crusade to strip protections from DACA recipients. He is attacking the program from every direction.”
DACA was created by President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012 to protect eligible residents from deportation and allow them to obtain fleeting work permits and driver’s licenses and qualify for in-state tuition for higher education.
During Trump’s first term, he tried to repeal the program in 2017 by stopping recent applications and sending hundreds of thousands of recipients across the country into limbo. Finally, the Supreme Court decided against the Trump administration.
Some Republican-led states have questioned the legality of DACA an appeals court allowed the expiration of work permits in Texas, but retained protection from deportation.
