Dhs Admits It Deported More Than 80 Daca Recipients

The Department of Homeland Security admitted to Congress this month that it deported dozens of unauthorized immigrants who are protected under U.S. law because they were brought as children to the United States, according to a letter made public Thursday.

Responding to an inquiry from Senate Democrats, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged in the Feb. 11 letter that immigration officers detained as many as 261 recipients of Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, often referred to as Dreamers. Eighty-six of them were deported, Noem added.

The Obama-era DACA program was designed to prevent unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States as children before 2012 from being deported. The program allows Dreamers to work and study in the United States, provided they continue to clear federal background checks when their status is up for renewal.

In the letter, Noem claimed that 241 of the 261 people who were detained had “criminal histories,” but did not elaborate on the charges they faced. Since the Trump administration returned to the White House, U.S. immigration officers have detained and sometimes deported individuals accused, but not convicted, of minor infractions of U.S. law, including traffic infractions and nonviolent misdemeanors.

Noem also noted that DACA is “a temporary forbearance from removal within the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security. It comes with no right or entitlement to remain in the United States indefinitely.”

Democrats on the committee, who released the letter, expressed outrage, arguing Noem’s claims are difficult to believe without additional details in light of the scrutiny DACA recipients go through. They argued that DACA recipients undergo background checks every single time they try to renew their legal protection to stay in the United States, making it unlikely these recipients had serious criminal records.

“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,” Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement. Durbin is the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Dreamers have been caught in legal limbo since the Obama administration created DACA in 2012. Their supporters on Capitol Hill have hoped that a comprehensive immigration reform package offering them a path to U.S. citizenship would eventually materialize.

But the Trump administration has shown no willingness to open any pathways for unauthorized immigrants to achieve legal status in the United States. Efforts to grant Dreamers legal status have also stalled in the Senate.