Sen. Alex Padilla slams DHS after agency admits deporting 86 DACA recipients

Mathew Miranda, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 26, 2026

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The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged it has deported dozens of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and have removal protections, prompting outrage from Democrats like California Sen. Alex Padilla.

In a letter earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had deported 86 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals from Jan. 1 to Nov. 19, 2025. The program, better known as DACA, began under President Barack Obama’s administration and has shielded some people from deportation if they arrived in the country before the age of 16.

Another 261 people had been detained in that time, Noem added. The letter was made public Thursday, one week after The Sacramento Bee first reported that a mother and DACA recipient without a criminal record had been deported in less than 24 hours. The swift removal has led to outcry from state and local lawmakers.

Of the people detained, Noem claimed 241 had “criminal histories” though she did not detail the allegations or if the individuals had been convicted.

Immigration arrests, deportations and detentions of people without criminal records have surged during President Donald Trump’s second term. As of last month, about 74% of people in detention had no criminal conviction, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

In a response Thursday, Padilla and Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said the administration’s explanation lacked critical detail and highlighted that DACA recipients are required to go through background checks to renew the status. The federal lawmakers called on DHS to provide more information on the basis of arresting and deporting DACA recipients.

“The Trump Administration has not hesitated to arrest immigrants with no serious criminal convictions and falsely label them the ‘worst of the worst,’” they said in a written statement.

The DHS figures were released in response to a September letter from the three senators after a handful of reports that DACA holders had been detained and deported. More than 500,000 people were enrolled in DACA as of last year.

DACA holders have faced uncertainty since Trump’s first term. He moved to end the program, which led to a years-long battle that ultimately failed. The program currently remains in another legal battle, with people able to renew their status but no new applications accepted. More recently, Trump has been publicly supportive of DACA recipients.