Washington, DC – Below is a column by Maribel Hastings from America’s Voice en Español translated to English from Spanish. It ran in several Spanish-language media outlets earlier this week:
Although ICE and CBP appear to be avoiding operations in the style of retired former immigration commander Greg Bovino, the Trump administration remains focused on detaining and deporting immigrants with no criminal record, even as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Markwayne Mullin says that “we continue to go after the worst of the worst.“
The difference, Mullin told CNBC, is that now “we are doing it in a more discreet manner.”
Despite this change in tactics, the resulting harm to vulnerable immigrant communities remains pervasive and severe.
One of the hardest-hit groups is the Dreamers, who since 2012—with the implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by Democratic President Barack Obama—have been protected from deportation and granted renewable work permits.
Since his first term, Trump has sought to eliminate the program. While the case is pending in court, new applications are not being accepted, though renewals of existing permits are being processed.
But the Trump administration maintains that DACA does not confer legal status and therefore does not prevent individuals from being detained and deported, especially if they commit a criminal offense.
Recent developments highlight the precarious nature of DACA for its beneficiaries: some 174 were deported between January and September 2025; the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that having DACA does not automatically halt deportation proceedings; and delays in DACA renewals have left many out of work and unprotected against potential detention and deportation.
The case of José Contreras Díaz has been widely reported because he was arrested in the middle of his DACA renewal appointment. It was reported that Contreras was brought to the United States by his family at the age of eight. He obtained DACA, but it was not until this renewal appointment that agents detained him.
Contreras was deported to Honduras, but his attorney, Stacy Tolchin, argued that the deportation was illegal because his DACA permit was still valid. The government brought him back to Texas, but upon arrival, he was arrested and sent to a detention center.
Contreras’s case is not an isolated one.
According to FWD.us, as of September 2024, some 530,000 Dreamers had DACA.
“Dreamers already contribute an estimated $65 billion to the U.S. economy each year through their wages, and pay nearly $18 billion annually in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes,” according to FWD.us.
But many of these Dreamers are losing their jobs and protections due to delays in DACA renewals. The Associated Press reported that “at the end of April 2026, USCIS was reporting that the majority of renewal requests were being completed within about 122 days…Federal lawmakers and immigrant groups say some applicants recently have had to wait 6 months — about 183 days — or longer.”
The reality is that the Trump administration has focused on de-legalizing immigrants and, in fact, detains and deports people protected by various programs, such as asylum seekers, DACA recipients, TPS beneficiaries, and those covered by other humanitarian initiatives.
This policy approach leads to widespread violations, including racial profiling that threatens even U.S. citizens and legal residents. In pursuit of mass deportations, the administration often ignores due process, the rule of law, and constitutional protections.
Many immigrants are detained when attending lawful court appointments at ICE offices or the court. Some deportations are carried out without hearings, and detainees experience prolonged, harsh conditions, lack medical care, and endure violence or abuse.
El País reported that “an investigation by The Washington Post has revealed that, in the first year of Trump’s presidency, in at least 780 cases, ICE centers’ staff used physical force or chemical agents to control detainees.”
The cruelty is such that children are forced to appear alone before immigration judges without legal representation. Like Wilfredo, a 10-year-old Venezuelan boy navigating his deportation process to a third country alone. Wilfredo and his mother have a pending asylum case, but the woman was detained in Texas, and the cases were separated.
“The experience was so overwhelming that the child, overcome by panic, lost control of his bladder and urinated on himself,” wrote La Opinión, quoting Univision. “I was scared because it was my first time in court,” Wilfredo explained.
Cruelty at its worst.
The original Spanish version is here.
