WATCH: Padilla, Colleagues, Immigration Advocates Demand the Release and Return of Detained and Deported DACA Recipients

WATCH : Padilla: Secretary Noem must “release all DACA recipients who are still in custody and bring an end to the chaos her officers and agents and her department are causing” Lawmakers were also joined by Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, a Sacramento mother and DACA recipient who was recently deported WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Representative Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.-03) joined immigration advocates and experts from the Home is Here Campaign and a recently deported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient from Sacramento to renew their urgent call for the passage of the Dream Act to provide a permanent pathway to citizenship. The press conference follows an alarming pattern of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detaining and deporting DACA recipients and immigrant youth. The Senator’s remarks come after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated — without any additional details — that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 261 DACA recipients and removed 86 individuals from the country between January 1, 2025 and November 19, 2025. This information from DHS came in response to a letter that Senators Padilla, Durbin, and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) led last September where they pressed Secretary Noem on the Trump Administration’s wrongful targeting of DACA recipients in its mass detention and deportation campaign. DACA recipients have legal protections against detention and deportation, and any attempt to remove these protections is unlawful. “The United States government made a promise over 13 years ago: if young people who were brought to this country as children, who have known no other home, came forward out of the shadows, they would be protected from deportation,” said Senator Padilla. “But now, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are breaking the government’s promise, indiscriminately and unlawfully sweeping up over 260 DACA recipients. DACA recipients like Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez — a Sacramento mother who was picked up by ICE at her green card appointment in front of her daughter, Damaris — are our friends, neighbors, and colleagues who have done everything right and are an integral part of our communities. They deserve better than to be targeted by Trump and Noem’s cruel mass deportation campaign.” Padilla blasted ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for targeting people who “look” Latino, speak Spanish, or have an accent as they indiscriminately round up immigrants and citizens alike. Secretary Noem claimed that over 240 of the DACA recipients they detained had “criminal histories,” and President Trump claims DHS is targeting the “worst of the worst” violent criminals, but DHS’ own data shows that less than 14% of those arrested by ICE and CBP have previously been charged with or convicted of violent crimes. Padilla was joined by Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez , a DACA recipient and Sacramento mother who was recently deported despite her status. Ms. Estrada Juarez, who has lived in California for 27 years, was detained at her green card interview and deported within 24 hours despite being a DACA recipient with legal permission to remain in the United States. After meeting with Ms. Estrada Juarez’s daughter, Damaris, earlier this week, Padilla slammed President Trump for the cruelty of his mass deportation agenda and its devastating impact on families like Ms. Estrada Juarez’s. The Administration has targeted not only DACA recipients, but U.S. citizens. Padilla highlighted the experience of Marimar Martinez , a U.S. citizen and resident of Chicago, Illinois who was shot five times by a CBP agent who then bragged about it to other agents. Padilla previously heard from Martinez at a bicameral spotlight forum focused on DHS officers and agents’ violent tactics and disproportionate use of force. He also joined Martinez at a press conference on Tuesday following a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing of Secretary Noem. Javier Ramirez — a U.S. citizen from California who was violently assaulted by DHS agents and held for four days, where he faced severe complications after being denied adequate treatment for diabetes — also joined the Tuesday press conference and previously told Padilla about his harsh treatment during another spotlight forum. Video of Padilla’s full remarks can be watched here and can be downloaded here . Video of the full virtual press conference can be downloaded here . Senators Padilla, Durbin, and Kelly blasted DHS for wrongfully targeting and removing DACA recipients in a joint statement last week. Padilla previously took to the Senate floor to defend DACA recipients from DHS’ baseless claims and slam the Trump Administration’s push for DACA recipients to “self-deport.” He emphasized that these long-term residents — who were brought to the country as children — have been working, studying, and living legally in the United States since 2012 and are vital members of American communities. ###