Durbin, Padilla, Kelly Blast DHS For Wrongfully Targeting & Removing DACA Recipients
Senators Durbin, Padilla, and Kelly criticized DHS for arresting 261 DACA recipients and removing 86 between January and November 2025, expressing concern over wrongful targeting and lack of transparency. They criticized the previous administration’s characterization of some DACA recipients with criminal histories and called for more detailed information from DHS on the basis for these arrests. The senators emphasized the social, emotional, and economic harm caused by these actions and advocated for protecting Dreamers and pursuing a pathway to citizenship.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, and U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) today released the following statement after U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 261 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and 86 have been removed from the country between January 1, 2025 and November 19, 2025.
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This information from DHS came in response to a letter the Senators sent in September where they pressed Secretary Noem on the Trump Administration’s wrongful targeting of DACA recipients in its mass deportation scheme.
“News of DACA recipients being arrested and deported is deeply troubling. These arrests disrupt families, harm communities, and inflict unnecessary social, emotional, and economic costs. And it is a waste of taxpayer dollars,” the Senators said. “Secretary Noem’s response to our letter claims that 241 of the 261 DACA recipients arrested had ‘criminal histories,’ without providing any further details. DACA recipients go through strict background checks every time they renew this protection, and the Trump Administration has not hesitated to arrest immigrants with no serious criminal convictions and falsely label them the ‘worst of the worst.’ In the face of this Administration’s actions, it is important for Congress to protect young people who know no other home than the United States and continue the critical work to find a pathway to citizenship for them. We won’t accept partial information, and we demand that Secretary Noem provide more information on their basis for arresting and deporting DACA holders immediately.”
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