- Jessica Treviño filed a federal lawsuit in Brownsville challenging her deportation and DACA termination.
- The government cited her March 25, 2026, deportation as unauthorized travel to revoke her legal protections.
- Treviño’s attorney seeks her immediate return to Texas and the full restoration of her status.
Jessica Treviño, a 34-year-old DACA recipient, filed a federal lawsuit in Brownsville this week challenging her deportation to Mexico and the termination of her protection. She asks a judge to order the government to facilitate her return to the United States.
Treviño and her husband were arrested in December after federal agents followed them into a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. Both were deported, and their three United States citizen children remain with family near the border.
The couple now lives in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville. Treviño’s lawsuit seeks a declaration that her removal was unlawful and an order restoring her status.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a notice of intent to terminate her DACA status last week. The agency cited “unauthorized travel outside of the United States on or about March 25, 2026,” the same date the Department of Homeland Security deported her.
Her attorney, David Rozas, said the filing challenges both the removal and the government’s later treatment of it as a violation.
“The government had no lawful basis to remove her, and we filed this petition to demand she be brought back home.”
Rozas’s petition asks the federal court to require the government to help bring Treviño back and keep her Deferred Action status valid. The case was filed during the week of July 27, 2026.
The agency identifies the deportation date as the alleged violation
Treviño came to the United States at age 7 and received DACA protection at age 20. Her DACA authorization and work permit were most recently valid through April 2027.
The notice places the alleged departure on March 25. Treviño’s lawsuit argues that she did not choose to leave the country, because DHS removed her.
DACA recipients generally must obtain Advance Parole before traveling outside the United States. Unauthorized departures typically can result in termination of the protection.
The litigation challenges applying that rule to a departure caused by the government itself. It asks the court to examine whether USCIS may rely on the removal date as the basis for ending Treviño’s status.
An immigration judge issued Treviño a voluntary departure order in February while she was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. DHS later deported her and her husband to Mexico on March 25.
| Case detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Person | Jessica Treviño, 34 |
| Arrival in the United States | Age 7 |
| DACA protection received | Age 20 |
| Arrest | December 2025, Home Depot parking lot in South Texas |
| Deportation | March 25, 2026, to Matamoros, Mexico |
| Work permit and DACA authorization | Valid through April 2027 |
| Children | Three United States citizens living with family near the border |
Treviño’s children remain on the U.S. side of the border
Treviño and her husband are living in Matamoros, while their children remain with relatives in South Texas. The children are United States citizens.
The family’s separation followed the couple’s detention in December 2025. Federal agents had followed them into the Home Depot parking lot before arresting them.
Treviño’s petition asks the court to facilitate her return to the home she left after DHS deported her. It also seeks restoration of the DACA status that had been authorized through April 2027.
The notice does not describe a voluntary trip by Treviño. Instead, it identifies the date on which authorities removed her from the country as travel outside the United States.
FWD.us president calls the case a broader attack on DACA
Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, described the government’s handling of the case as “a deliberate, systematic effort to destroy DACA.” Advocates say the approach could create a catch-22 for people whose protection depends on avoiding unauthorized departure.
Under that argument, authorities could remove a person first and then cite the resulting presence abroad as grounds to terminate DACA. Treviño’s case asks a federal judge to decide whether that sequence was lawful here.
The Department of Homeland Security had not issued a formal comment on the specific litigation as of July 30, 2026. USCIS’s termination notice remained active.
The lawsuit requests three forms of relief: a declaration that Treviño’s expulsion was unlawful, government assistance with her return, and restoration of her DACA status to its previous standing.
DHS letter counted 86 deported recipients and 241 arrests
The case comes amid broader enforcement against people covered by DACA. In a letter sent in February 2026 to Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, DHS said the Trump administration had deported 86 DACA recipients and arrested 241 others.
Those figures cover enforcement actions beyond Treviño’s case. Her lawsuit focuses on the legal basis USCIS used after her deportation.
The court will be asked to address whether DHS lawfully removed Treviño and whether the agency can treat the March 25 removal as unauthorized travel. The requested orders would affect both her physical return and the continued validity of her DACA protection.
The litigation remains pending in federal court in Brownsville. Treviño’s children remain in the United States while she and her husband live across the border in Matamoros.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
