For José Contreras Díaz, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, the nightmare began with a letter in the mail instructing him to report to an immigration agent to discuss his status.
Contreras, born in Honduras but brought to the United States as an eight-year-old, had been a DACA recipient for 12 years and said he had never previously been required to meet with immigration authorities. Following the instructions in the letter, he reported to the appointment and was arrested and deported to Honduras within days.
His case might seem like that of many others swept up in the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. But as The Texas Tribune reported, Contreras stands out for one reason.
Three months after his deportation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement flew Contreras back to Texas after an attorney argued his removal violated protections under DACA — only for him to be detained again upon arrival.
Contreras spent eight days in immigration detention and was released May 7. He described the experience as one of the most difficult periods of his life.
"It has been the hardest thing my family and I have ever experienced, and words cannot fully capture it," Contreras told The Texas Tribune. "But I am home now. I got to hold my son, Mateo, and hug my family again. After everything, looking forward to that moment is what kept me going."
His son, Mateo, was born while Contreras was in Honduras.
Despite existing protections, DACA recipients have increasingly been caught up in immigration enforcement actions mandated by the Trump administration in recent months. Last month, an administrative appellate court within the Justice Department ruled that DACA status alone is not sufficient grounds to block deportation, a decision that has raised concerns among advocates for so-called "Dreamers."
DACA was created in 2012 during the Obama administration to provide temporary protection from deportation for people brought to the United States as children before 2007. Current estimates place the number of recipients at roughly 500,000 nationwide.
According to a letter sent to senators earlier this year by then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, 261 DACA recipients were arrested between January and November 2025, and 86 were deported. The Texas Tribune reported that 75 of those arrests occurred in Texas.
Contreras said immigration agents told him he had a deportation order tied to his mother, who allegedly failed to appear at a court appointment decades earlier. He said agents searched him upon arrival and later informed him of the order.
"What about DACA?" Contreras recalled asking.
"The administration is choosing to do things differently," one agent responded, he said.
Contreras told the outlet he spent much of his first month in Honduras in distress.
"I would eat, and then cry, I would talk to my family, and then cry," he said. "All I did was cry."
As noted by The Texas Tribune, his legal and immigration status remains uncertain. He is required to report periodically to ICE and remains at risk of deportation.
Contreras said he now lives with the fear that he could be detained again at any moment.
"I'm worried about my life being upended again," he said.
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