Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported 174 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during the first nine months of 2025, according to a letter from the agency's acting director Todd Lyons. The same period saw ICE arrest 270 DACA recipients altogether, and later figures brought that arrest count to at least 343 by mid-November.
DACA, created under the Obama administration in 2012, shields undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation and allows them to work legally. The program currently covers roughly 533,000 people nationwide, often called "Dreamers."
The disclosure by Lyons came after conflicting information from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem created uncertainty about how aggressively the Trump administration was targeting DACA beneficiaries. Lyons blamed a "scripting issue" for the discrepancies in Noem's two letters to Congress. He clarified that her January letter to Representative Delia Ramirez and other lawmakers contained the accurate figures, while a separate letter to Senator Dick Durbin included inaccurate data.
The Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a cornerstone of its second term, expanding operations beyond traditional priority categories. Under the previous administration, deportation resources typically focused on individuals with serious criminal convictions or national security concerns. The current approach casts a far wider net, capturing asylum seekers, victims of crime, people with temporary protected status, and other immigrants whose removal was not previously pursued.
DACA recipients undergo vetting each time they renew their status, creating a vulnerability point where immigration enforcement can intervene. The Department of Homeland Security stated that the majority of arrested DACA recipients had been charged with crimes, though the agency did not specify which crimes or provide a precise breakdown of criminal versus noncriminal cases.
Representative Ramirez characterized the enforcement campaign as a deliberate political strategy. "The mandate from Trump and Miller is clear," she said in a statement, referencing White House adviser Stephen Miller. She called for abolishing ICE and dismantling the Department of Homeland Security entirely.
DACA has faced sustained legal challenges, and its future remains uncertain. The Trump administration has signaled it does not recognize DACA as conferring legal status, despite the Obama-era program operating for more than a decade. Immigration lawyers warn that the confluence of aggressive enforcement and ongoing litigation poses existential risks to the half-million-plus Americans who depend on the protection.
Author James Rodriguez: "The numbers confirm what immigration advocates feared: DACA is no longer a shield under this administration, but a registration system for deportation."
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