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Carlos Zurita, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who came to the United States as a toddler, has been stuck in Mexico for a month after attending a visa interview, his lawyer Monica Saenz told Newsweek.
Newsweek has reached out to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) via email on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
Zurita's situation comes amid an ongoing immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and has detained and deported thousands of people in recent months.
In 2012, then-President Barack Obama introduced the DACA program, offering protections and work authorizations for millions of undocumented residents who came to the U.S. as minors. The program, which has about 538,000 active participants, has been in legal and political limbo for years as courts have weighed its validity.
The first Trump administration attempted to end the DACA program, but the president also proposed extending protections for its recipients as part of broader immigration deals that included funding for a border wall and other policy changes.
The Trump administration has repeatedly warned green card holders, who are lawful permanent residents, that their stay in the country is not guaranteed and could be revoked if they are deemed a threat to national interests.
What To Know
Zurita, 37, was born in Mexico and came to the United States when he was 2 years old, Saenz told Newsweek in an email Wednesday. He grew up in Fredericksburg, Texas, and then later moved to San Antonio, where he owns a landscaping company, his sister-in-law, Kelsea Iguanzo wrote in an online fundraiser page.
In 2012, he was a recipient of DACA, she wrote, adding, "He has maintained his status faithfully and complied with every legal requirement year after year."
His lawyer echoed this sentiment to Newsweek, adding that he "has been vetted by the government every time he renewed his DACA (every 2 years) and at other times during his process."
He married Kendall Zurita, a U.S. citizen, in 2018 and began the process of obtaining a green card. His four children are U.S. citizens.
"He departed the U.S. to attend his Immigrant Visa interview (green card/residency interview) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico," Saenz said. Consular officers typically conduct visa interviews later in the green card process.
On May 22, he went to Mexico for his interview and has been there for about a month, and his application has been placed on hold.
"He was told his case could not be approved at the time of his interview. His case was instead placed into Administrative Processing which is a process by which additional checks are done by the government. Attorneys and Applicants are never told the reason that a case is placed into Admin Processing," Saenz told Newsweek.
A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek via email on Wednesday, "Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot comment on individual cases."
Saenz previouslytold local outlet KENS 5 that he has no criminal history and has passed multiple background checks.
The fundraiser for his family and legal fees has raised around $3,000.
What People Are Saying
Kendall Zurita, Zurita's wife, told KENS5: "We're past 30 days and we haven't heard anything...I mean, they tell us it could be a couple of weeks, a couple of months or it could be up to a year," she said.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security previously told Newsweek: "The Trump administration is enforcing immigration laws—something the previous administration failed to do. Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained, and removed as required."
Vice President JD Vance said in a Fox News interview in March: "A green card holder, even if I may like that green card holder, doesn't have an indefinite right to be in the United States of America. If the Secretary of State and the President decide, 'This person shouldn't be in America,' it's as simple as that."
What Happens Next
Zurita's wife says the family has been spending as much as $600 a week on his hotel stay in Mexico. It remains unclear when and if he may return to the U.S.
Update 6/25/25, 7:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Saenz and the State Department.
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About the writer
Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. You can get ... Read more