Texas Mother Challenges Deportation with Legal Action

Jessica Treviño, a Texas mother who was deported to Mexico despite having legal permission to stay in the U.S. since arriving as a child, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government. The action comes after she received a notification that her permission would be terminated due to ‘unauthorized travel’ linked to her deportation.

Treviño, aged 34, initiated legal proceedings this week with her attorney to seek intervention from a federal judge. In December, Treviño and her husband were apprehended by federal agents at a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. Both were subsequently deported and currently reside in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas. Their three children, all U.S. citizens, are staying with family near the border on the U.S. side.

Arriving in the U.S. at the age of 7, Treviño later received legal permission at 20 through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. Established in 2012, DACA allows individuals brought as children to the U.S. to remain temporarily and obtain work permits, although it doesn’t impart legal status. As a DACA recipient, Treviño was required to maintain a clean criminal record and refrain from travelling outside the United States.

Her attorney, David Rozas, filed the lawsuit highlighting her DACA status and authorized work permit, which was valid until April 2027. Treviño recently received notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the intent to terminate her status due to ‘unauthorized travel outside the United States on or about March 25, 2026,’ coinciding with her deportation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Rozas petitioned a federal judge in Brownsville to recognize the deportation as unlawful, push for Treviño’s return to the U.S., and ensure her DACA status remains intact. He stated, “The government had no lawful basis to remove her, and we filed this petition to demand she be brought back home.”

An immigration judge from the Justice Department had issued a voluntary departure order for Treviño in February while she was held by ICE. Nonetheless, a valid DACA status prevents the Department of Homeland Security from deporting her.

“I would be so blessed to be able to go back home, because that’s what I long for most right now. I’m really desperate. It’s been seven months since I’ve been home,” expressed Treviño.

With her children slated to begin school soon, Treviño expressed a strong desire to reunite with them. According to a DHS letter addressed to Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, under the current Trump administration, 86 DACA recipients were deported and 241 were arrested.

Advocates for DACA recipients argue Treviño’s deportation reflects a troubling pattern. Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a policy group advocating immigration rights, commented, “This is what a deliberate, systematic effort to destroy DACA looks like in practice: target recipients one by one, manufacture justifications after the fact, and leave their children to grow up without them.”

Note: This story has been revised to correct that Treviño arrived in the U.S. at age 7, not 8, and later received DACA status at 20 years old.