EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A federal judge has ruled that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and activist Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago must be released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody no later than Thursday, Oct. 2.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted Santiago’s release on Wednesday, Oct. 1, saying that “detaining her without any individualized reasons deprives her of her constitutional right to
procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Santiago must be released from custody at the “earliest reasonable opportunity,” and in no event may she be detained beyond 4 p.m. on Oct. 2, according to the order.
In the order, Cardone said that the government only stated interest in Santiago’s detention to “seek a removal order against her.” However, Cardone added that such removal order is inexecutable because Santiago is protected by DACA.
As KTSM previously reported, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Santiago on Aug. 3 as she waited to board a flight at El Paso International Airport.
She was immediately placed in removal proceedings due to a previous trespassing charge and an arrest on suspicion of drug and drug paraphernalia possession back in 2020.
Santiago, originally from Mexico, has lived in the United States for 20 years, since she was 8 years old. She applied for and received protection under the DACA program in 2012, according to the order.
The order states that around 2015, Santiago pled guilty to disorderly conduct for her participation in a civil disobedience action, and in 2017, she received similar charges associated with civil disobedience, but they did not result in a conviction.
In 2020, Santiago was arrested for alleged drug and paraphernalia possession in Arizona, but no charges were filed against her.
Santiago’s grant of DACA was renewed multiple times after her 2015 conviction and 2017 charges, and it was renewed at least twice since her 2020 arrest. Her most current renewal will expire in April 2026, according to the order.
In addition, Santiago’s lawyers had argued that she was never charged with the drug offenses and that the trespassing charge was related to peaceful civil resistance.
Cardone further explained in the order that the government “did not present any evidence indicating that Santiago has endangered anyone during her twenty years at liberty, including her thirteen years under DACA.”
During the time Santiago has been detained, which is close to 60 days, immigration activists and groups have held rallies demanding her immediate release from her detention.
“Despite presenting a valid DACA work authorization card offering proof of her protection from deportation in the U.S., Border Patrol abducted and detained her without warrant or cause,” Santiago’s friend and colleagues said in a GoFundMe they created.
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