ARIZONA BORDER AND IMMIGRATION NEWS

DACA recipient, Arizona immigration attorney worried about deportation efforts

Feb 1, 2025, 6:30 AM

PHOENIX — With the recent changes in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, DACA recipient and Arizona immigration attorney Salvador Macias said he shares the concerns of many undocumented peoples fearing their days in the U.S. are numbered.

“I’ve described (this fear) as like Stockholm Syndrome; it’s falling in love with a country that doesn’t love me,” Macias told Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday. “I have certain set of skills that I’ve learned through education that I’ve been blessed to have gotten. Now, I’m just trying to help those in my community that have those same fears.”

Macias was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and first came to the Valley at 4 years old. He works as a criminal defense and immigration lawyer at Nunez Law Firm and studied political science and trans-border studies at Arizona State University.

Besides just being an advocate for those in the greater Phoenix area, Macias equally fights for justice on behalf of his wife, who is also an undocumented immigrant.

Macias has lived in Phoenix for nearly 30 years but a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that DACA is unconstitutional makes him worried about his freedom to practice. He pointed out the ruling will be appealed by the U.S. Supreme Court but it is troubling nonetheless.

“But if the Supreme Court comes down the same way, we’re talking about me as an individual … who is a lawyer, all of the sudden being stripped of his ability to have a work permit and live here comfortably,” Macias said.

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was first approved in 2012 through executive action of President Barack Obama. The immigration policy has allotted undocumented children a two-year grace period from deportation and provided opportunities to earn college education and obtain a U.S. work permit.

What immigration tactics does Macias hope Trump will address?

Macias said he is not against Trump’s intent to gain control over a broken southern border, but does not think ICE officers are being “properly trained” throughout the country. He referenced an incident on Wednesday where local enforcement and ICE officers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wrongly detained three Puerto Rican women.

“They were picked up just because they were speaking Spanish. That is no OK,” Macias said. “And they’re expressing the fact that they’re Puerto Ricans and the officers don’t understand that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. That’s an issue.”

Macias said he hopes the current administration will take time to access their actions before pressing on and making a bad situation worse.

“My prerogative as an immigration attorney is making sure people know their civil rights, know their constitutional rights and that everyone is following those rights. If you’re expecting immigrants to follow those laws in this country, I for sure am hoping the administration and officers are following them as well.”

On Wednesday, protests broke out on ASU’s Tempe and downtown Phoenix campuses against Trump’s mass deportation methods. Then, an ASU Republican group responded on Friday by calling on students to report suspected undocumented peers.

In 2022, Arizona voters approved Prop 308, which makes undocumented students eligible for state financial aid and in-state tuition.

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DACA recipient, Arizona immigration attorney worried about deportation efforts