ICE Arrests DACA-Protected Father While Delivering Milk to Newborn in Hospital
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a Texas father of three as he was driving to deliver milk to his newborn daughter in a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, despite his protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The incident, confirmed by his wife and local officials, has sparked outrage and allegations of systemic delays in DACA renewals by the Trump administration.
A Father's Devastating Detainment
Juan Chavez Velasco, who was brought to the United States from Colombia by his parents as a child, was en route to see his infant daughter in Weslaco when two unmarked vehicles boxed in his car last month. According to his wife, Stephanie Villarreal—a U.S. citizen—agents "yanked him" from his vehicle during the arrest.
"My husband always did everything by the book and never had any form of criminal history, not even so much as an unpaid ticket," Villarreal stated in an online declaration. "This has been devastating and extremely hard for us."
Villarreal explained that her husband's detention stems from a denied asylum case and a related deportation order issued when he was 14 years old. Velasco applied for DACA at age 15, successfully obtaining protection that he renewed every two years since.
Active DACA Status and Alleged "Slow Walking"
Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, revealed that Velasco's DACA status was "still active" at the time of his arrest but expired afterward. Castro echoed allegations by Senate Democrats that the Trump administration is intentionally "slow walking" DACA renewals to create vulnerability.
"They dragged their feet. They didn't decline it either; they just dragged their feet," Castro said of Velasco's renewal application in a video message. "This is an intentional thing that the Trump administration is doing, forcing people into this kind of limbo that makes them vulnerable to being arrested and being taken in by ICE as well."
Velasco applied for DACA renewal in November, as he had done biennially since qualifying. However, renewal applications nationwide are taking significantly longer than Homeland Security guidelines suggest. More than 40 senators highlighted this issue in a letter to department heads, stating, "A DACA recipient whose only change of circumstance is a pending renewal application should not be at risk of their entire life being thrown into chaos due to indiscriminate immigration enforcement."
Official Responses and Family Anguish
Matthew J. Tragesser, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, declined to comment on Velasco's specific case but defended extended renewal processing times, citing enhanced vetting as a measure to safeguard Americans. "Illegal aliens claiming to be recipients of DACA are not automatically protected from deportation. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons—including if they committed a crime," he stated.
Meanwhile, the family faces ongoing hardship. Villarreal shared via a GoFundMe account that their daughter remains hospitalized, undergoing a blood transfusion due to low red blood cells. "I never got to hold her," Velasco lamented in a phone interview from the Webb County Detention Center.
Representative Vicente Gonzalez, another Texas Democrat, described Velasco as a contributing member of society who earned two college degrees and worked on the frontlines during the Covid pandemic. "He should be with his family and newborn baby right now, not held up in a South Texas ICE detention center," Gonzalez asserted.
A Broader Pattern of Enforcement
Villarreal's visits to the detention center have revealed a troubling pattern. "The more I go visit, the more I have found that it has never been about doing things the right way," she wrote, referring to her husband as Sebas. "There are detainees who have their residencies or who had active DACA just like Sebas, and the sad part is they ALL were detained at work or on their way to work just like Sebas was."
This case underscores the precarious situation faced by DACA recipients amid shifting immigration policies and enforcement practices, leaving families in uncertainty and distress.
