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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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A Florida middle-school science teacher was reportedly detained by immigration officials and now faces deportation, despite being part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The unnamed middle school teacher in Miami-Dade County was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at an immigration hearing, according to NBC Miami.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools told Newsweek that all employees were legally authorized to work within its system, and that it had not received a "formal notification" from the Department of Homeland Security regarding a teacher in its system.
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Newsweek reached out to ICE for comment Friday morning via email.
Why It Matters
DACA recipients, otherwise known as Dreamers, are U.S. residents brought into the country illegally as children. Those granted protections under the program are supposed to be exempt from ICE detention and deportation, although these protections can be revoked by authorities.
What To Know
The science teacher had not been named Friday morning, but Miami-Dade officials had confirmed to local media outlets that a faculty member of a school in the district had been detained by immigration officials. They had been in the U.S. since childhood and reportedly had all the necessary paperwork.
DACA has been in a somewhat suspended state for several years, following President Donald Trump's efforts to scrap the Obama-era program during his first term in the White House. Trump said in December that he wanted to work across party lines to find a solution to the program, adding that he was wanted Dreamers to stay.
While new applications are not being accepted, roughly 537,370 Dreamers out of a potential 3.6 million individuals who could have counted as recipients are able to extend their protections. Florida is home to upwards of 74,000 Dreamers, making it one of the most-populous for DACA recipients alongside New York, Illinois, Texas, and California.
While details of the individual case remained vague, immigration enforcement has been stepped up in the south Florida city in recent weeks, under President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts.
There have been reports across the country of legal immigrants having been swept up in enforcement action, while Dreamers have voiced their concerns about potential deportation.
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What Happens If a Dreamer Loses Their Status?
If an individual's DACA status is revoked, then they are no longer protected from immigration enforcement and potential removal from the U.S.
"Persons in the U.S. with DACA status are no more immune to deportation proceedings than any other noncitizen. They have "deferred action," which only means that they established that they meet the requirements for DACA as laid out by the executive order and as implemented by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS)," Amelia Wilson, a professor at Pace University Law School, told Newsweek.
"So, if later, the Department of Homeland Security alleges that that person is deportable because they committed a criminal offense, because their status expired or was not renewed, or because of some other factor that rendered them 'removeable,' they must go before an immigration judge to plead defenses against deportation."
Depending on the case, former Dreamers can face either a 10-year ban on re-entry into the U.S. or even a permanent ban if they were in the country illegally for a long period of time before their DACA protections.
Most Dreamers who face removal proceedings are deported back to their country of origin, often a place they have little to no memory of, or familial connections. Appeals are possible, and have been successful in the past if an individual can prove strong ties to the U.S.
What People Are Saying
Miami-Dade County Public Schools in a statement to Newsweek: "We have not received any formal notification from the Department of Homeland Security or its immigration enforcement entities of the detention or the status of a Miami-Dade County Public Schools employee or teacher. Without formal confirmation, we cannot comment on an employee's immigration status."
Florida Education Association in a statement: "We cannot purport to know the details of that specific case and why this may have happened, and we will not speculate. But here is what we do know: in the days and weeks that follow, children in one of our neighborhood public schools will no longer get to learn from their favorite teacher. A community will no longer get to feel inspired by a valuable educator. And the families of those impacted will feel ripples of this action long after our own memories put this news away."
President Donald Trump on NBC's Meet the Press in December: "The Dreamers, we're talking many years ago, they were brought into this country. Many years ago. Some of them are no longer young people. And in many cases, they've become successful. They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses. Some cases they might have large businesses. And we're going to have to do something with them."
What Happens Next?
More details on the teacher's case were still pending Friday morning, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he was making it easier for local law enforcement to work with federal authorities carrying out immigration enforcement.
Update 2/7/25 11:40 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with new information.
Update 2/7/25 1:48 p.m. ET: This story was updated to clarify the number of eligible DACA recipients.
Update 2/8/25 11:27 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional comment and an earlier quoted post from X removed.
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