FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 24, 2025Media Contacts
press@homeishere.us
Los Angeles, California – Recent reporting from the Los Angeles Times details the month-long detention of a DACA recipient, Javier Diaz Santana, who has lived in the U.S. for over two decades, is deaf and communicates through sign language. Per the reporting, this DACA recipient was cuffed and shoved into an SUV at a car wash where he was working. Highlighting the aggressive and unlawful practice of ICE, agents snatched Mr. Diaz’s wallet and phone without giving him a chance to show his ID.
The case exposes the increasing vulnerability and threat DACA recipients, immigrant youth without DACA, and immigrants with disabilities face under this administration. After being snatched from his workplace, Mr. Diaz was taken to a detention camp in Texas where he was detained for weeks without being able to communicate with his family or attorney. This comes at a time when already one DACA recipient has been detained at the Everglades Detention Camp in Florida and another DACA recipient in San Diego now faces deportation after mistakenly missing an exit while driving that led him across the U.S.-Mexico border.
In response to this report, the Home is Here Campaign released the following statement:
“Just one week after news broke of a DACA recipient’s detainment at the Everglades Detention Camp, we are learning that another DACA recipient has been abducted in a callous move meant to instill terror in our cities and communities. Javier Diaz Santana, a DACA recipient who is deaf, was abducted at his place of work and separated from his family for nearly a month, hundreds of miles away from his home in California. Mr. Diaz did everything the U.S. government has required of him, and under DACA, he should have been protected. His detention and the repeated violation of his rights, should send shockwaves across the country.
“This is a clear escalation of the administration’s mass abduction agenda and exposes the obvious vulnerability of DACA recipients and the tens of thousands of immigrant youth without DACA who face escalating threats against their safety, rights and lives at the hands of ICE. The Home is Here campaign demands the immediate release of all individuals held in detention camps and an end to this cruel immigration system. We urge members of Congress to speak out against the detainment of DACA recipients like Mr. Diaz, and all those suffering under this deeply unjust and inhumane system. With millions of lives being terrorized and thousands having their constitutional rights violated, Congress must work without hesitation to pass tangible, bold protections like the American Dream and Promise Act to protect millions now.”
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The Home Is Here national coalition is fighting to protect DACA recipients, their families, and all immigrant communities at the U.S. Supreme Court. DACA recipients are undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They are also our nurses, our teachers, our coworkers, our family members, and our friends — and their home is here. For more information visit HomeIsHere.Us