McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Texas mother deported to Mexico despite having legal permission since age 8 to stay in the U.S. has filed a lawsuit against the federal government after it notified her it would be terminating her permission because of “unauthorized travel” stemming from her deportation. Jessica Treviño, 34, filed a lawsuit through her attorney this week asking a federal judge to intervene.Treviño and her husband were arrested in December after federal agents followed them into a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. Both were deported and are living in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas. Their three children, all U.S. citizens, are living with family on the U.S. side near the border.After being brought to the country as a child, Treviño received legal permission to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which was introduced in 2012. DACA does not confer legal status but has allowed hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain and obtain work permits.
As a DACA recipient, she must maintain a clean criminal record and is not allowed to travel outside the United States. Her attorney, David Rozas, filed the lawsuit. He noted her status and work permit were most recently authorized until April 2027.
