A California woman who had lived in the US for 27 years before being deported to Mexico by the Trump administration in February has returned home after a judge ordered her release. Maria de Jesús Estrada Juárez, a Mexican citizen and recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, was arrested at an immigration hearing on 18 February and deported the following day.
“I didn't get to say goodbye,” the 42-year-old mother said at a news conference in Sacramento. “It all happened so fast. This has been one of the most painful experiences of my life.” Her daughter, Damaris Bello, 22, described the separation as “like grieving someone who was still alive”.
Estrada Juárez’s deportation was based on a 1998 removal order issued when she was a teenager, shortly after she arrived in the US. She was sent to Mexico at the time but returned weeks later and had held DACA status since 2013. Federal officials reinstated the 1998 order in February, a move her lawyer argues was invalid.
US District Judge Dena Coggins, a Biden appointee, issued a temporary restraining order on 23 March, calling the deportation a “flagrant violation” of Estrada Juárez’s DACA protections and due process rights. The Department of Homeland Security defended the deportation, with a spokesperson calling it “another ruling from a Biden-appointed activist judge”.
Immigration advocates say the case highlights the vulnerability of DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers”, and the need for permanent protections. Talia Inlender of UCLA Law noted that such judicial returns are rare but may become more frequent under an administration prioritising “speed and quotas” over fairness.
Estrada Juárez was reunited with her daughter on Monday night. “Having her back home means everything to me,” Bello said. “It means we can begin to heal, to rebuild and to move forward together as a family.”
