Arizona senators demand answers from DHS on DACA, military families

Arizona’s U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, are among dozens of legislators demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security on two immigration issues: the recent arrests of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, despite their protected status, and the targeting of military families and veterans for arrest and deportation.

In a Sept. 3 letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, 41 legislators asked the agency to clarify its position on immigrants with protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The Obama-era program was created to offer temporary protection from deportation to immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.

But in recent months, immigration agents have targeted DACA recipients for arrest, actions lawmakers called “illegal.”

In statements to media outlets, including the Arizona Daily Star, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin justified the arrests by claiming DACA recipients don’t actually have protection from deportation, and urging DACA recipients to “self-deport,” contradicting government guidance on the program.

“In contrast to Ms. McLaughlin’s puzzling statement,” the lawmakers’ letter said, “public DHS guidance makes clear that DACA holders are ‘not considered to be unlawfully present’ in the United States and that ‘[a]n individual who has received deferred action is authorized by DHS to be in the United States for the duration of the deferred action period.”

DHS has not responded to the Star’s request for a response to the letter.

A path to permanency for unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as kids — known broadly as “Dreamers” — has long had bipartisan public support, and in December, then-President-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for allowing Dreamers to stay in the U.S.

DACA recipients must meet strict criteria and renew their status every two years to maintain their permission to work and authorization to remain in the U.S. There are more than 525,000 active DACA recipients today, mostly under age 36 but including some in their 40s.

In a January decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals maintained a stay that protects current DACA holders and also limited a nationwide injunction on new DACA approvals to Texas, the letter from legislators said.

“We urge you to retract Assistant Secretary McLaughlin’s statement and ensure that DHS recognizes and abides by the protections of DACA moving forward,” the letter said. “Recent enforcement actions against DACA recipients not only appear to violate the Fifth Circuit stay, but also disrupt families, harm communities, and inflict unnecessary social, emotional, and economic costs.”

‘Betrayal’ of military families

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In a second letter to DHS and Department of Defense officials, 61 legislators, including Kelly and Gallego, announced the opening of an investigation into the Trump administration’s “betrayal” of non-citizen military service members, veterans and military families by targeting them for immigration enforcement.

“We demand an explanation for why DHS is betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security,” the letter said, citing a new ICE policy, implemented in April, reversing guidance that considered military service a “significant mitigating factor” in deciding whether to pursue enforcement action.

In an emailed statement ot the Star, DHS said, “DHS and ICE value the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military. U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”

Kelly’s office has highlighted the case of Maria Pelaez, who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and has no criminal record. Pelaez was detained as she entered the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma to help her son and daughter-in-law — both U.S. Marines — care for their 2-year-old son, while the daughter-in-law recovered from surgery. An immigration judge granted Pelaez’s release on bond, but ICE appealed the decision, Kelly said.

In the Friday email to the Star, DHS said Pelaez will be released on bond once her bond payment is made, but did not say whether ICE had lost its appeal.

The letter also cited the May arrest of a Marine Corps veteran’s wife, who was still breastfeeding her youngest child at the time. After more than 10 years living in the U.S., she was detained during a green card application appointment.

And the letter highlighted the arrest of the father of three U.S. Marines during a June workplace raid. NPR reported the man was repeatedly punched by masked ICE agents during the arrest.

More than 40,000 foreign nationals were serving in the armed forces as of February 2024, and more than 115,000 foreign nationals in the U.S. were veterans of the U.S. military in 2022, according to the lawmakers’ letter.

“Non-citizens often possess specialized skills valuable to the military, particularly in certain medical specialties and foreign languages that are difficult for military recruiters to find and expensive to teach,” the letter said. “Non-citizens can also be critical in helping the military meet its recruitment goals, and they have had higher retention rates than citizens.”

Lawmakers said the enforcement actions “go against decades of precedent and long-standing DHS policy indicating that military service offers protection from immigration enforcement for military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members.

“The Trump administration’s (actions) threaten U.S. national security interests and erode the U.S. military’s credibility when it makes promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for our country.”

Legislators asked DHS and DOD to respond by Sept. 16 to the letter’s request for more information, including the number of non-citizens serving in the U.S. military, and the impact of new enforcement policies on recruitment, readiness and morale.

A DOD spokesperson said in a Friday statement: “As with all congressional correspondence, the department will respond directly to the requestor. We have nothing more to provide.”