Texas DACA Recipient Deported, Flown Back, Then Detained Again by ICE

José Contreras Diaz, a 30-year-old man brought to the U.S. as a child, faced a Kafkaesque nightmare at the hands of ICE this week. After being deported to Honduras earlier this year—even though he had a pending application to renew his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status—the Trump administration agreed to let him return to Texas. But instead of reuniting with his wife and infant son as expected, Contreras was arrested again the moment he landed and taken to Port Isabel Detention Center.

Contreras’ attorney, Stacy Tolchin, called the move “mind blowing,” questioning why the government would expend resources to deport and then immediately detain someone they had previously removed. Contreras’ family came to the U.S. when he was just 8 years old, and though his family had been ordered removed more than two decades ago, he remained protected under DACA—a program created in 2012 to shield young immigrants from deportation while granting work permits.

The deportation happened during an immigration appointment earlier this year, before ICE acted on his DACA renewal application, which Tolchin says is still pending. After the deportation, Tolchin sent ICE a letter arguing the removal was illegal, citing a federal judge’s ruling that called the deportation of another DACA recipient a “flagrant violation” of the program’s protections.

Despite the government’s agreement to bring Contreras back, ICE has not disclosed when or if he will be released from detention. Tolchin plans to sue the Department of Homeland Security over the legality of his detainment.

This case underscores the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigrants, including DACA recipients. Since January 2025, at least 261 DACA recipients have been arrested nationwide, with 75 in Texas alone. Deportation figures vary between 86 and 174, highlighting inconsistent reporting from DHS.

The administration’s stance is clear: “DACA does NOT confer any form of legal status,” DHS stated earlier this week, threatening that those in the country illegally must either leave voluntarily or face arrest and deportation. This contradicts the original intent of DACA and disregards the lives and families of those who came to the U.S. as children.

The Trump administration’s relentless pursuit of immigrants protected under DACA is not just a policy failure—it is a brutal assault on human dignity and the promise of America. We will keep tracking these abuses and demand accountability for every unlawful detention and deportation.