Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Delia Ramirez Demand Answers from DHS After Conflicting Data on Arrests and Deportations of DACA Recipients

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Representatives Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29) and Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL-03) questioned the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons in a letter over the contradictory information provided to Congress regarding the arrest and deportation of beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In September 2025, 95 Members of Congress wrote to DHS requesting a full accounting of how many active DACA recipients had been detained or deported by DHS since January 2025, including locations, dates, and outcomes of those cases. In response, DHS stated that 270 DACA recipients had been arrested and 174 DACA applicants were removed from the U.S. between January 1, 2025, and September 28, 2025. However, in a separate response to Senator Dick Durbin, DHS reported that ICE had arrested 261 DACA recipients and removed 86 from the country between January 1, 2025, and November 19, 2025 - a longer timeframe that nonetheless shows fewer arrests and fewer removals.

According to the Members, the discrepancies between the two responses demonstrate gross incompetence or intentional misdirection. Reps. Garcia and Ramirez are demanding that DHS provide an accurate and complete accounting of how many active DACA recipients have been detained or deported since January 2025, no later than March 13, 2026.

A full copy of the letter is available HERE.

"Dreamers trusted the federal government when they came forward under DACA, passed background checks, and followed every rule DHS asked of them. Now, under the Trump administration, ICE is targeting the very young people who did everything right. That is appalling," said Rep. Garcia. "On top of that, DHS cannot even give Congress a straight answer about how many DACA recipients have been arrested or deported. This raises serious questions about whether we are seeing gross incompetence or whether Congress is being intentionally misled. We need full transparency. DHS must provide a full and accurate accounting of its actions against DACA recipients immediately."

"Whether it is in Congressional hearings, in responses to Congressional inquiries, and even in face-to-face meetings, DHS and Secretary Noem continue to disregard the law and lie to Congress about it. We know that Noem and DHS have refused to abide by the protections that DACA provides to Dreamers. It is clear that DACA recipients are at great risk; we must have transparency," said Rep. Ramirez. "While Secretary Noem's days in office are numbered, she must abide by the law while she is secretary and provide us with the truth. Congress and our communities deserve to know how many of our neighbors have had their protected status violated, have endured inhumane detention, or have been disappeared."

The situation shows why Congress must pass the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, legislation led by Rep. Garcia and co-led by Rep. Ramirez that would provide Dreamers with permanent deportation protections and a pathway to citizenship. As immigration enforcement under Trump increasingly targets DACA recipients, Congress cannot continue leaving hundreds of thousands of young people in legal limbo.

For Ramirez and Garcia's September 2025 letter, CLICK HERE.
For DHS's response to the House, CLICK HERE.
For DHS's response to the Senate, CLICK HERE.