Trump Administration Targets Dreamers With Deportations and Tuition Lawsuits

The Federal government of the United States is executing a crackdown on undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, specifically targeting those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 260 DACA recipients and deported over 80. Simultaneously, the Department of Homeland Security has urged these individuals to self-deport, while Senate Democrats allege the administration is intentionally slow-walking renewal applications.

Beyond deportations, the federal government is suing multiple states to terminate in-state tuition programs for undocumented students. The Department of Justice is currently pursuing lawsuits against California and Illinois. While courts in Kentucky, Virginia, and Minnesota have blocked these efforts, the administration successfully pressured Texas to reverse its long-held support for such policies, causing tuition costs for affected students to more than double.

These actions persist despite a 2025 Gallup poll indicating 85% of Americans support citizenship for Dreamers and a pending bipartisan proposal known as the Dream Act. In response to these barriers, the nonprofit organization TheDream.US continues to provide scholarships to approximately 4,000 undocumented students to maintain their access to education.