María de Jesús Estrada Juárez came to the US from Mexico in 1998 at 15 years old. Later, she was a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the policy meant to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors from deportation. When Estrada Juárez applied for a family-based green card in 2025, she thought she was doing everything right.

Instead, she was detained at her green card interview in Sacramento, California, and deported to Mexico. Similar stories have played out across the country since President Donald Trump retook office. Last year, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller and then Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem set a quota of 3,000 arrests per day, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has hired 12,000 new agents to supercharge the agency’s efforts.

But in practice, the emphasis on detaining and deporting as many people as possible has meant that even immigrants in the US with legal status have been caught up in the blitz, thrown into a system where they may be moved out of the state, or the country, before they’re able to seek legal help. Immigration officers have appeared at immigration court hearings and green card interviews across the country, arresting people who are otherwise complying with the immigration process.

On March 23, a federal judge ruled that Estrada Juárez’s deportation was unlawful, and she was able to return to the US on March 31. Estrada Juárez shared her experience with WIRED.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

WIRED: Can you tell me what the actual deportation process looked like for you? How fast did it happen?

María de Jesús Estrada Juárez: It happened pretty fast. I went to my appointment that I had for my green card, and I ended up being deported back to Mexico in less than 24 hours. It was very traumatic and very disturbing because I believed I was taking the right steps towards stability.

There wasn’t much information given to me. After I was detained, I was told I was going to Tijuana. I was detained in Sacramento, but they took me to different facilities on the way down to Mexico. So it was Sacramento, Stockton, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, and the last one was San Ysidro. They were picking up different people on the way down.

We heard all this stuff, about how DACA recipients were a target to be deported, and that’s not the protection that we were promised.

Were you able to contact your family at all? Did they know where you were?

Not all. Once I got detained, all my belongings, including my phone and medication, were put aside for me until I was released. I have anxiety and I'm a diabetic, so I had my Ozempic and the other medication that I use for my anxiety. When we got to the San Ysidro border, they gave me my belongings back.

When I got to Tijuana, the first thing I did was text my daughter because when we got into the first part of the shelter where they registered us, they told us, you still cannot use your phone in this facility. But I needed to let my daughter know that I was OK, and that I was already being released in Mexico. So I went to the bathroom and I texted her, “Don't call me back or text me back. I'm just texting you real quick to let you know I'm OK, and I'm already in Mexico.”

That was Thursday, February 19, around 8:30 am. I was detained on February 18, around 11:30, so it took less than 24 hours for me to be deported.

My daughter had been trying to search for me in the [US Citizenship and Immigration Services] tracker, the ICE tracker, and she could not find me there the whole time that I was moving down to San Ysidro.

What happened when you got to Mexico?

When I got to Tijuana, they turned us in to [the Mexican government] and they took us to a shelter where the Mexican government took us in.They helped figure out how we were going to get back to our hometowns. But I do have a friend that has a house in Tijuana, and she has family there, so I didn’t have to stay in the shelter until I got to my hometown, which is in Puebla, Mexico.

How long were you in Mexico before you were able to return to the US?

Forty days.

What did your life look like coming back?

I am an area manager for a chain of hotels, and I was able to come back for my job.

When I came back I asked for a couple weeks off, even though I had been gone, because it felt like I was just waking up out of a dream. I needed to realize I was back at home. I had asked my daughter to pack up the house because she wasn't going to be able to afford the living expenses. So when I came back to the house, seeing it packed and ready to go was depressing.

It's just me and my daughter, and I am the head of household, the only earner for me and for her. I'm in a bit of a tough situation right now because I'm behind on my rent. I'm trying to stay strong. I'm trying to pick up anything, any extra shifts or anything, extra work, that I could do to cover those expenses.

It did really put me in a really bad situation where right now, the struggles are really hard.

A federal court said your deportation was unlawful. Does that give you a sense of safety right now?

I feel like everything's up in the air. You know the uncertainty, the trauma, the anxiety, the fear of getting separated from my daughter again is ... It's really hard.

Given your experience, are you comfortable continuing to try and get your green card, or these processes where you’re having to interact with the federal government?

I have to. It is something that I do not want to give up on. I want to take the step forward to an adjustment of status. I do truly believe that I have everything to become a resident.

I have been in this country for 27 years, my life is here, my community is here, and most importantly, my daughter is here.

What happened to me was unlawful. I have a US citizen daughter that I will not ask to go to a foreign country and restart her life like I did.