New U.S. Immigration Policies Increase Risks and Strengthen ICE E

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently told NBC News that “DACA does not provide any form of legal status in this country.” She further warned that DACA recipients could be detained or deported and even encouraged some to consider self-deportation.

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a U.S. immigration program that offers temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. It is not a permanent legal status, but a form of prosecutorial discretion that has been supported by the U.S. government across multiple administrations to shield young immigrants from removal.

Immigration news seems relentless. Every day brings new headlines, new rumors, and new rules, often changing before anyone fully understands them. For many, these stories are mere background noise. For DACA recipients, however, they are a daily reality fraught with fear. Statements from officials are already affecting communities, leading to arrests at airports, workplaces, and public spaces.

For example, DACA recipient Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago was detained while boarding a flight for a work assignment in El Paso, Texas. She was arrested without a warrant and transferred to a federal immigration processing center, leaving her status uncertain.

Javier Diaz Santana, a deaf and mute DACA recipient, was detained during a workplace raid. Officers confiscated the tools he uses to communicate and he spent nearly a month in detention in El Paso, separated from family and legal counsel. He was also given documents in Spanish, a language he cannot read.

Jose Valdovinos was apprehended outside a Circle K while riding as a passenger in his wife’s car. When she asked why he was being detained, officers reportedly said, “DACA is no longer considered a legal status in the U.S.” Despite having a valid work permit, the agents proceeded with his arrest.

Currently, it remains unclear why certain DACA recipients are being targeted. It is unknown whether these detentions are isolated incidents, the beginning of a wider policy shift, or a consequence of inconsistent messaging reaching local enforcement. What is clear is that the discrepancy between policy on paper and the realities faced by recipients is growing, and they are the ones bearing the burden.

The fear experienced by DACA recipients is palpable. Even those no longer under the program still feel the anxiety. Many live with a constant sense of unease, knowing their safety and livelihood could be threatened at any moment.

Growing up in an immigrant household, I was often the one expected to navigate bureaucratic challenges, interpreting documents, explaining procedures, and helping family and community members understand complex rules. Today, I receive countless messages from people asking, “What happens to us?” And with the recent news, I cannot provide a definitive answer.

For individuals like Xochitl, Javier, and Jose, the temporary assurances provided by DACA were never intended to be permanent, but they allowed recipients to establish roots, pursue education, work, and build lives without constant fear. Those protections, however limited, are now under threat.

As courts stall, Congress fails to act, and mixed messages from the administration continue, DACA recipients remain in limbo. In the United States, where rhetoric can have real-world consequences, enforcement is increasingly affecting those with existing protections.

Temporary measures are no longer sufficient. Permanent solutions are necessary to end the cycle of fear and uncertainty. Each day without clear protections is another day when someone risks losing their employment, home, or freedom. Treating DACA recipients as a temporary problem is not only bad policy, it is inhumane.

Immigrants deserve clarity, and DACA recipients deserve a future where they can live without fear that their protections might vanish overnight.