El Paso DACA recipient Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago must be freed by Thursday, judge rules

By Cindy Ramirez and Robert Moore October 1, 2025

Sign up for essential news about El Paso. Delivered to your inbox — completely free.

Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago, an El Paso DACA recipient who has been in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since August, must be released no later than Thursday, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted Santiago’s petition for release Wednesday, stating that her arrest and continued detention violate her rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Cardone wrote in her order that the government’s only stated interest in keeping Santiago detained was to seek her removal – though the government also conceded that her removal is “inexecutable” because she’s protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

Cardone ordered Santiago’s release “at the earliest reasonable opportunity” but not beyond 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, and ordered the government to inform the court of the date and time of her release. 

The order states that release is appropriate because there hasn’t been any change in Santiago’s circumstances since she was last renewed for DACA through April 2026 that would indicate she’s a flight risk or a danger to the community. 

Implemented in 2012 under an executive order by then-President Barack Obama, DACA provides temporary protection from deportation for people who were brought to the United States as children. 

“Respondents did not present any evidence indicating that Santiago has endangered anyone during her 20 years at liberty, including her 13 years under DACA,” Cardone wrote.

Cardone last week extended a temporary restraining order she had issued prohibiting the government from deporting her or removing her from the Western District of Texas through Oct. 7. An immigration judge on Sept. 9 terminated deportation proceedings against Santiago, and the government said it would appeal that decision.

Santiago, 28, is being held at the ICE El Paso Service Processing Center on Montana Avenue after being detained Aug. 3 by Customs and Border Protection agents at El Paso International Airport. 

Originally from Mexico, Santiago has lived in the United States since she was 8 years old, and obtained DACA protection in 2012. She’s a community organizer and has worked with various nonprofits, including La Mujer Obrera. She married an American citizen earlier this year and began a process that could lead to citizenship.

To justify detaining Santiago, authorities cited a criminal history involving trespassing, narcotics, and drug paraphernalia, though her attorneys point out that many of those charges did not result in convictions or had been dismissed, and hadn’t prevented renewal of her DACA status.

Her detention sparked public protests and calls for her release. 

Santiago is the second DACA recipient from the El Paso area in recent days to be ordered release from ICE custody.

Paulo Cesar Gamez Lira, a DACA recipient and father of four U.S. citizen children, was arrested on Aug. 13 in Horizon City and freed from a New Mexico detention center Sept. 24. 

According to legal filings, he had just pulled into his driveway – with two of his children in the car – when three unmarked vehicles blocked him in and seven men in plainclothes, some masked and armed, forcibly removed him from his car. His shoulder was injured in the process.

Prior to this arrest, Gamez Lira had maintained valid DACA status and had lived in the United States since he was an infant. 

After his arrest, Gamez Lira was held in the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico, in ICE custody. His legal team, including the ACLU of New Mexico and the firm Singleton Schreiber, filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the lawfulness of his detention. The petition argued that his detention was unlawful given his DACA protections and called for his immediate release.

In court, the federal government ultimately declined to oppose his release. U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson in Albuquerque granted the habeas petition and ordered Gamez Lira’s release after 42 days in ICE custody.

Alongside legal arguments, the government’s publicly stated justification for his detention included noting a prior arrest for marijuana possession, though his attorneys pointed out that charges had been reduced to disorderly conduct and that those matters had not prevented his past DACA renewals.

This is a developing story and will be updated.