Latest news with #ErickHernandez
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump said he wanted to protect ‘Dreamer' immigrants with DACA. Now, officials say they should self-deport
The Trump administration is continuing to chip away at the guarantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily protects certain children brought to the U.S. illegally from deportation. The move comes despite the president's campaign-trail claim he wanted to protect DACA recipients, known as Dreamers. In response to questions about a recent case, in which DACA recipient Erick Hernandez accidentally drove across the U.S.-Mexico border from California in June without permission then was put in deportation proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security said it was encouraging Dreamers to self-deport. "Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations," DHS assistant press secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, encouraging Dreamers to accept the administration's $1,000 incentive to self-deport on a government-funded flight. "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country." Valerie Sigamani, an attorney for Hernandez, expressed alarm at the apparent immigration policy shift. 'This administration assured DACA recipients that something should be done to cement their status in the United States,' she told NBC San Diego. 'It's unfortunate that this DHS would encourage DACA recipients to self-deport.' Others argued the administration was not correctly applying the law regarding the DACA program, which was created in 2012 to protect immigrants who arrived illegally as children before 2007. "The notion that it does not provide protection is simply false," Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told NPR, which first reported on the change in DACA priorities. President Trump has vacillated for years over the fate of the Dreamers, a group for whom a majority of Americans support creating some form of lasting residency or citizenship. DACA recipients, who receive work permits, currently have to re-apply for their protections every two years. During his first term, he tried to end the program, but the Supreme Court found in 2020 that the administration had not put forth an adequate justification to justify ending the initiative. As Trump plotted his political comeback, advisor Stephen Miller, now White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters in 2023 the president would try again to end the program. However, a year later, after winning the 2024 election, Trump seemed to flip again, telling NBC News that he wanted the Dreamers to stay in the country after all. 'They have great jobs,' he said on Meet The Press. 'In some cases, they have small businesses, some cases they might have large businesses. And we're going to have to do something with them.' 'I want to be able to work something out,' he added. Now that Trump is back in the White House, that priority seems to have evaporated, and agencies have moved to further restrict DACA recipients' access to the federal health insurance marketplace, while investigating universities that offered financial aid to Dreamers. Some immigrants with DACA have already chosen to self-deport, including Patricia Vázquez Topete, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 12, fleeing sexual abuse. 'I want people to understand that if we had a pathway, so many of us would have taken advantage of it,' said Topete, who left the U.S. in May, speaking with The Fresno Bee. 'We looked at the options, we are proactive, and we remain undocumented because there's still not an option.' ' The fate of DACA not the first time the president has wavered over the status of a sensitive category of immigrants. In June, the president conceded his mass deportation agenda was hurting the U.S. farm labor and hospitality labor force and reportedly planned a pause in enforcement against these sites while seeking some kind of reprieve, though immigration officials disagreed, and by July the president was saying there was no ' amnesty ' planned. 'We've got to give the farmers the people they need, but we're not talking amnesty,' Trump said earlier this month.
New York Post
24-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Migrant dad facing deportation after taking wrong turn and accidentally leaving US: attorney
A migrant dad is being deported from the US after he took a wrong turn on a California freeway and ended up in Mexico, according to his lawyer. Erick Hernandez came to the US from El Salvador when he was 14, making him a recipient of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, NBC San Diego reported. But he lost those protections when he left the US on June 1 without permission — which he blamed on a wrong turn while working as a rideshare driver on a routine journey near the border in Los Angeles. 'When that happened, he lost everything, basically,' his attorney, Valerie Sigamani, said of the dad who was detained and fast-tracked for deportation. 'He no longer has DACA,' he said. Erick Hernandez, a DACA recipient who came to the US two decades ago when he was 14 years old, crossed the US-Mexico border by accident in San Ysidro on June 1 while working as a rideshare driver, his lawyer said. NBC San Diego 'His attempt to come back to the United States and say, 'This was a mistake. It was an accident. I was not trying to leave the United States,' was ignored,' the lawyer said. Hernandez was in the process of gaining legal status in the US after marrying his wife Nancy Rivera, who is a US citizen, late last year. His wife is also expecting their second child. Hernandez married US citizen Nancy Rivera, who is expecting their second child next month. NBC San Diego However, Hernandez's DACA eligibility was wiped because those in the program have to seek prior approval before leaving the US. 'I'm just worrying,' his pregnant wife said. 'I'm just worried that he's, if he gets deported, like, how I'm going to manage everything by myself. 'It's just a lot of, you know, stress, anxiety that I have.' 'He was my main support, you know?' she added. 'It was, I just think one second that, you know, everything changed.' Hernandez is currently being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center. The status of his deportation wasn't immediately clear. 'He's afraid of returning to El Salvador,' his lawyer said. 'He doesn't know that country. He hasn't been there since he was a kid, so he has no idea what it's like to live in El Salvador.'
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Migrant, 34, brought to US as a child accidentally self-deports after missing freeway exit near Mexico border
A migrant who came to America as a boy 20 years ago is set to be deported after accidentally missing an exit on the freeway in Southern California and winding up in Mexico. Erick Hernandez, 34, of East Los Angeles, migrated to the US from El Salvador at 14 years old, making him eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), NBC San Diego reported. DACA is granted to migrants who came to the US before turning 16 years old. It delays deportation so recipients can live and work in the country. Hernandez, whose parents gained legal status in the US, was working on becoming legal after marrying his wife, who is an American citizen. The couple had a daughter and are expecting a son in August. Hernandez's family and attorney told NBC San Diego that he was working as a rideshare driver on June 1 when he missed a freeway exit in San Ysidro and found himself in Tijuana. 'And when that happened, he lost everything, basically,' his immigration lawyer, Valerie Sigamani, toldthe outlet. DACA recipients need to apply for 'advance parole' to travel internationally and return to the US. Erick Hernandez, 34, of East Los Angeles, migrated to the US from El Salvador at 14 years old His wife, Nancy Rivera, is an American citizen. The two have a child together and are expecting their second Since Hernandez didn't have prior permission to leave and return to the country, his DACA status was stripped when he crossed the border. Now, he's being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center and undergoing an expedited removal deportation process to El Salvador. She added that when Hernandez was approached by agents with Customs and Border Patrol (CPB), they offered to let him back into the country if he paid a bribe. 'One of the officials told him, "Well, if you pay us $800, we'll forgive everything, and we'll let you into the United States with no problem,"' his attorney said. Hernandez assumed the payment was a part of a legal process, but didn't have enough cash with him. The Daily Mail reached out to CBP and Sigamani for comment. Sigamani said Hernandez is holding onto hope that he'll be able to return before his wife gives birth. 'He has a lot of hope. He feels like something good is going to happen. He's a person of faith,' she told NBC San Diego. Hernandez missed a freeway exit in San Ysidro and found himself in Tijuana (file photo) Since Hernandez didn't have prior permission to leave and return to the country, his DACA status was stripped when he crossed the border Hernandez's lawyer said he is optimistic but fearful of deportation to El Salvador Despite his optimism, she added that Hernandez lives in fear of returning to a country he hasn't lived in since he was a child. As Hernandez awaits his fate in a detention center, his pregnant wife, Nancy Rivera, is caring for their child alone and working full-time. She's concerned about making ends meet without him. 'I'm just worried that he's, if he gets deported, like, how I'm going to manage everything by myself,' she told NBC San Diego. 'It'' just a lot of, you know, stress, anxiety that I have.'
