Overview
- José Contreras Díaz was released from ICE custody Thursday in South Texas after about a week at the Port Isabel detention center, then reunited with his wife and newborn son.
- ICE had flown him back to Harlingen on April 29 under parole, then agents arrested him at the airport and booked him into Port Isabel.
- He was first deported in January under a removal order issued more than two decades ago after his family missed an immigration court date when he was eight.
- His attorney argues the deportation and later detention broke rules that protect active DACA recipients from removal, citing recent federal rulings that ordered other DACA holders returned to the U.S. DHS says DACA does not confer legal status and has reported stepped-up actions against recipients, including at least 261 arrests and 86 to 174 deportations from January to November 2025.