DACA 'Dreamer' Who Spoke at Press Conference to Be Deported Without Hearing, Lawyer Says

A 22-year-old DACA recipient, Daniela Vargas, will be deported without a court hearing, her lawyer said Thursday. On Wednesday Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents targeted and arrested Vargas after she spoke at a press conference in Jackson, Mississippi organized by migrant rights groups to denounce the immigration detention of her father and brother.

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As she drove away from the press conference, organized by the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, Vargas — who arrived in the U.S. from Argentina when she was 7-years-old — was pulled over by ICE agents and arrested.

A friend who had been with Vargas during her arrest told local news that ICE agents pulled them over, saying, "You know who we are, you know what we're here for."

Vargas, who had previously been granted temporary status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, had recently reapplied for DACA protection and was awaiting re-approval.

"It could be retaliation," said Vargas' lawyer Abby Peterson told the Huffington Post. "They had been reading about her in the news, they had seen her at this press conference... (maybe) they didn't want to hear it anymore. Maybe I'm mistaken on that, but common sense would certainly imply that's what happened."

On Feb. 15, ICE agents arrested Vargas' father and brother during a raid on their home. During that raid, she hid in a closet but was herself arrested after agents forced their way into the home with guns drawn.

She was later released and since then had been moving from place to place, telling the Huffington Post that she was "afraid to stay in one spot and be taken back to Argentina."

She eventually decided to speak at the news conference because, according to a friend, "She thought sharing her story might help people."

During the press conference prior to her arrest, Vargas described the terror of the ICE raid.

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"During that time, I couldn't even breathe, honestly," she said. "I just watched them handcuff my dad and take them. I was scared for my life. I didn't know. I didn't know anything. I called my mom and I just let out a cry. I didn't even get to see my brother leave; I think that was the harshest thing for me. It was the most dreadful thing, I never thought that this would happen," she said.

Vargas' is currently in immigration detention in Jackson, and her lawyer expects that she will soon be transferred to an ICE facility in Louisiana where her father and brother are currently awaiting deportation.

After her arrest Wednesday, Democratic Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin Tweeted that it was "Disturbing that ICE may have followed her from an immigration press conference."

On Tuesday Vargas told the Huffington Post that she was trying to save money to go back to school, saying "We weren't here doing any harm," she said. "We were just going to work and going to school. I feel like I belong here... I feel like I am an American."

Vargas is the fourth known DACA recipient arrested in recent weeks after the Trump administration stepped up immigration raids on migrant communities.

Vargas told the press conference on Wednesday that, "A path for citizenship is necessary for DACA recipients but also for the other 11 million undocumented people with dreams."