WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday ordered the government to return to the U.S. a California DACA recipient who was deported last month to Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins in Sacramento gave the government seven days to return Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, 42, and restore her protections under the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, “as if her Feb. 19, 2026 removal never occurred.”

A lawyer for Estrada Juarez argued that she was unlawfully deported within a day of appearing at a scheduled immigration appointment in Sacramento.

Lawyers for the government, meanwhile, argued that the court lacked jurisdiction over Estrada Juarez’s case because her petition was filed after she was deported and because her removal was a discretionary decision the government is entitled to.

Coggins said she found the government’s argument “unavailing,” writing in her ruling that Estrada Juarez “was removed in flagrant violation of the regulatory protections afforded to her under DACA, and in violation of the Constitutional protections afforded to her under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

In a statement, Estrada Juarez said she was “overwhelmed with relief and hope” after learning the court’s decision.

The Department of Homeland Security said it had reinstated an expedited removal order for Estrada Juarez from 1998, when she was 15. But her lawyer, Stacy Tolchin, said the record showed that the order lacked supervisory approval and was never finalized, so there was no valid removal order to reinstate.

Homeland Security previously told The Times that an immigration judge had ordered Estrada Juarez’s deportation in 1998 “and she was removed from the United States shortly after.” Tolchin said Estrada Juarez never saw an immigration judge.

Estrada Juarez, who worked as a regional manager for Motel 6, has had protection from deportation under DACA since 2013. She applied for legal permanent residency, or a green card, through her daughter, Damaris Bello, 22, who is a U.S. citizen.

Her deportation after the green card interview garnered public attention and outrage from members of Congress, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

Tolchin filed the lawsuit seeking her return on March 10.

DACA was created to protect undocumented people who were brought to the U.S. as children.

As of June 2025, there were more than 515,000 DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers,” in the U.S. California has 144,000 DACA recipients, the most of any state, according to federal data.

The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the ninth Homeland Security secretary, capping a sprint to replace embattled outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem.

It also caps off a 13-year career in Congress that began in the House and saw Mullin score a seat in the Senate in 2021 where he became the de facto bridge between both chambers, helping to build trust between the House and Senate during last year’s push to pass the “big, beautiful bill.” Ahead of the vote he arrived flanked by his family, and was excited to cast his final vote on himself.  

Mullin, who was picked by President Donald Trump earlier this month to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was confirmed on a largely party-line vote. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., joined nearly every Republican to clinch his nomination.

Heinrich said he bucked his party because he has seen that Mullin — who co-chairs the Senate Legislative Branch spending committee with him — “is not someone who can simply be bullied into changing his views.”

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“And I look forward to having a secretary who doesn’t take their orders from Stephen Miller,” Heinrich said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote against Mullin, citing their chilly relationship and Mullin’s past comments that his 2017 assault was “justified.”

Mullin’s confirmation also saw the close of a whirlwind month in which Noem was reassigned after an explosive pair of hearings on Capitol Hill, as well as the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

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Still, Noem’s ousting and Mullin’s ascension have done little to shift Senate Democrats from their position. They continue to demand sweeping reforms to ICE and have so far blocked funding to the agency five times, along with several GOP attempts to temporarily extend funding to DHS.

The path to ending the shutdown appeared to become more complicated over the weekend.

Both sides began meeting for the first time during the shutdown, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., characterizing the talks as “productive.”

However, Trump threw a wrench into negotiations Sunday night, writing on Truth Social: “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.’”

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“In other words, lump everything together as one, and VOTE!!! Kill the Filibuster, and stay in D.C. for Easter, if necessary,” Trump said.

That comes after Thune suggested to the president that Republicans could carve out ICE and Customs and Border Protection funding from a broader DHS package and instead fund those agencies through budget reconciliation.

Canceling recess may be a hard sell in the upper chamber, given that votes this past weekend were plagued by absences. When asked if he would cancel the upcoming two-week break, Thune said, “We’ll see.” 

A cohort of Senate Republicans met with Trump ahead of Mullin’s confirmation vote. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told reporters after that the meeting went “really well.” 

When asked if Republicans had a solution to end the closure, she said, “We do.” 

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Still, Senate Democrats remain unified in their opposition to the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

“We’re ready to meet with the White House today to keep talking,” Schumer said. “In fact, we were going to meet this morning with Tom Homan. But apparently the White House pulled that meeting because of Donald Trump’s temper tantrum. They’re all scrambling around there in the White House. They don’t know what to do.”