DACA recipient detained by ICE while delivering milk to premature daughter in NICU

[0:00] During this Trump administration, ICE has detained more than 260 people protected under [0:06] DACA, also known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. [0:10] More than 80 of them have been deported. [0:13] The Obama-era program, created back in 2012, shields undocumented immigrants brought to [0:19] the U.S. as children from deportation and allows them to work legally. [0:23] While DACA recipients can be removed for reasons such as criminal convictions, advocates say [0:29] some with no criminal record are also being swept up in the broader crackdown. [0:34] Our Lisa Desjardins has one of their stories. [0:37] Juan Chavez Velasco was detained on his way to the hospital NICU, taking breast milk to [0:43] his infant daughter, who was born almost six weeks premature. [0:46] Brought to the United States from Colombia when he was eight years old, Juan is 35 years [0:51] old now and a longtime part of the DACA program. [0:54] He renewed his DACA status every two years, became a college graduate, works in a lab [0:59] in Texas, doing blood and other medical tests. [1:02] His wife and kids are all citizens, and he has no criminal history. [1:07] Juan has been held at a detention center in Texas for the past seven weeks. [1:11] His wife, Stephanie Villarreal, joins me now to talk about this. [1:16] Tell us what happened in February, the day that your husband was detained. [1:20] Yeah, so I had had my youngest daughter on February the 6th, and 12 days later, he was driving to [1:32] the NICU to go take her some of my breast milk that I had been pumping. [1:36] And as he was driving out of the neighborhood, he saw a car parked on the side of the road, [1:40] and he pulled over, and there was some ICE agents that approached him, and basically they questioned [1:50] him, and he tried to let them know that he had DACA and a work authorization, and he was detained [1:57] as of that day on February 18th. [1:59] At that point when it happened, as you say, he had DACA status right then. [2:03] How concerned before that were you or he that he could be detained? [2:07] I believe that we were just more under the impression that the administration had mentioned [2:13] nothing would happen to DACA recipients. [2:15] We had started hearing rumors about DACA recipients being detained, and we just started to get really [2:22] nervous about everything. [2:24] But again, we just didn't think that it would hit home. [2:27] I want to talk a little bit about that, because he had a DACA status when he was detained, but [2:33] that status expired while he was in detention. [2:36] And he had applied for renewal last fall. [2:40] Trump administration's under court order, they're supposed to renew this status, but [2:45] your husband's hasn't been. [2:46] What do you think is happening here? [2:48] I feel like it's intentionally being delayed, but it is affecting the likelihood of many DACA [2:55] recipients, and just like my husband. [3:00] He was picked up when it was active, and yes, it did expire while he was in detention. [3:04] We did ask DHS for a statement about Juan's case. [3:08] And this is what a spokesman said, quote, he is an illegal alien from Colombia and was issued [3:13] a final order of removal in 2005. [3:16] He received full due process. [3:18] DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country. [3:22] How do you respond to that? [3:24] I just believe that they use that term so often about illegal aliens. [3:33] My husband is more than just that. [3:36] He's a father. [3:37] He's a husband. [3:38] He's done everything right. [3:39] He's come here and he's built his education. [3:42] He's built his family and the term illegal alien just has a very negative attachment to it. [3:50] I know you speak with him daily. [3:52] How is he doing? [3:54] He's holding up. [3:56] He's having some medical concerns. [3:59] He just did some labs and he came out with having kidney stones. [4:05] So he's dealing with that. [4:07] He doesn't have the healthiest of foods or the best drinking water. [4:10] So it's definitely heightened the pain that he has coming from that. [4:16] This debate that you all kind of landed in the middle of right now in many ways is about [4:21] who Americans should be, who the Trump administration feels should be allowed to [4:27] enter or stay in this country. [4:29] And I wonder how you see yourself and how your husband sees himself as Americans. [4:34] He feels American at heart. [4:35] He's he hasn't stepped foot in Colombia since he was eight years old. [4:39] We love this country. [4:40] It's the country, you know, that provided him all of his opportunities, [4:45] especially being on the DACA program. [4:47] He was, like I mentioned, graduated with two bachelor's degrees that he was able to work and [4:52] provide and be able to accomplish that at the same time. [4:55] So he definitely is very thankful being here. [4:58] And he does feel like he's truly an American. [5:01] You know, the argument from the Trump administration is that even if he's done no wrong, [5:05] his family shouldn't have brought him here and they shouldn't have entered illegally [5:09] when he was a child, how do you respond to that? [5:11] I feel like as loving parents, you will do whatever it takes for your children. [5:17] And sometimes that comes with sacrifices. [5:21] I truly believe that that's what my mother and my father-in-law did for my husband. [5:26] They provided him an opportunity to live a better life. [5:30] LISA DESJARDINS- Have you thought about what you would do if he is deported? [5:33] LISA DESJARDINS- Unfortunately, it would require us to possibly move to [5:37] a different country just to be together as a family. [5:44] Just because my kids are so young, and he deserves to be a part of their life, [5:48] and they deserve to be with their dad. [5:51] LISA DESJARDINS- What's the hardest part about that? [5:53] LISA DESJARDINS- It's just uprooting everything that we thought [5:57] we were going to do with our children. We just bought, we just purchased our home last year, [6:02] and things were feeling perfect. We just started building our family, and [6:07] we were, you know, ready to just build our life. We didn't think that anything like this could have [6:15] ever happened. LISA DESJARDINS- Given that, I think my last question is, [6:19] do you look at America differently now because of this experience, or no? [6:24] LISA DESJARDINS- I do. [6:25] LISA DESJARDINS- Unfortunately, there's so much hatred in this world right now. And, [6:31] you know, at one point, when we were growing up, we were always told that the United States of America [6:37] was the best place for everyone to be. And right now, there's just so much hate that I look at my [6:46] children and try to teach them that we cannot normalize what's going on right now. [6:52] LISA DESJARDINS- Stephanie Villarreal, thank you so much for talking with us. [6:56] LISA DESJARDINS- Thank you. Thank you for having me. [6:59] Rob Markman- Support journalism you trust. Support PBS News. [7:15] Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.