As the illegal immigration arrests and deportations continue by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the liberal media looks for exceptions to highlight why ICE upholding the law was “inhumane.” On Monday, MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports featured a segment that covered “a deaf and mute DACA recipient” with Veronica Cardenas, the former Assistant Chief Counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Cardenas claimed, “Immigration is no longer them issue. It is an American issue.”
MSNBC expanded on the topic of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which was an executive action established by the Obama administration in 2012. About the case of the deaf and mute DACA receiver, Jansing popped the question about what was “legal” and what President Trump’s administration’s “policy” was after she stated the administration “doesn’t recognize DACA.”
Cardenas whined that DACA was being ignored despite it not being an actual law passed by Congress:
And it seems very odd to me to say that this administration doesn't recognize DACA. People who have DACA, DACA recipients have deferred action. And that is a promise from the government not to deport them. They have valid work authorization. So he- this person and DACA recipients who have DACA are protected from deportation.
To be clear, DACA is not the law; it is an executive action. It provided a temporary two-year protection for illegals getting deported, but it was not the ticket to legal immigration status. DACA recipients needed a renewal after the two years were up, but MSNBC did not mention that about the policy, nor whether DACA recipients' status had expired.
Cardenas made jabs towards the Trump administration’s policies and claimed:
This is not the way it's supposed to work. And time and time again, we're seeing an administration that is punishing identity and not behavior. This administration has crafted new ways, new targets, to meet their quotas of 3,000 or more a day. And this is the results that we're seeing now... That said, this administration's goal is not only to deport but to detain as a form of punishment so that it can deter others from coming into the United States or voluntarily leaving.
No, Veronica, the Trump administration was punishing behavior. Coming into the country illegal was an action not an “identity.”
It’s worth noting that Cardenas worked for ICE for 13 years and resigned in 2023, when former President Biden had a record number of illegal immigrants cross the border. Humanigration is the name of her mentorship platform that trained immigration attorneys, and stated on the website:
Working under the Trump administration felt like an assault on my soul. The system didn’t understand the non-citizens who need America’s protection, nor did non-citizens understand the system they were trapped in.
That explains why MSNBC invited her to give a left-wing input on the segment. To top it off, Cardenas expressed: “Immigration is no longer a them issue. It is an American issue. And we're all connected here. And we are going to see the ripple effects of targeting, the way that this administration has been targeting non-citizens.”
The “ripple effects of targeting” were a safe country from terrorists and criminals. ICE was justifying the law by having legal U.S. citizens reside in the country, not illegal immigrants.
Click here for the transcripts.
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports
7/28/25
1:26 p.m. EasternCHRIS JANSING: New allegations are raising more alarms about whether the Trump administration is truly targeting the worst of the worst in its immigration crackdown.
One example- a deaf and mute DACA recipient. No criminal history tells our Los Angeles affiliate that ICE detained him at the car wash where he works, taking his wallet and phone before he could show ID or try to explain his disability. They also wanted him to fill out papers in Spanish. He doesn't read Spanish. He says he then spent weeks in detention and had no way to communicate.
Joining me now is Veronica Cardenas, former Assistant Chief Counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Veronica, is this the way it's supposed to work?
VERONICA CARDENAS: This is not the way it's supposed to work. And time and time again, we're seeing an administration that is punishing identity and not behavior. This administration has crafted new ways, new targets, to meet their quotas of 3,000 or more a day. And this is the results that we're seeing now.
JANSING: Well, according to them, they said the administration says they don't recognize DACA. What rights do DACA or people with disabilities have? And I guess the question becomes something about what is legal versus what their policy is that they're putting out there.
CARDENAS: Right. And it seems very odd to me to say that this administration doesn't recognize DACA. People who have DACA, DACA recipients have deferred action. And that is a promise from the government not to deport them. They have valid work authorization. So he- this person and DACA recipients who have DACA are protected from deportation.
That said, this administration's goal is not only to deport but to detain as a form of punishment so that it can deter others from coming into the United States or voluntarily leaving. And that is exactly what we're seeing. So DACA recipients who have deferred action should not be placed into immigration proceedings, because that is also just a waste of resources, a waste of time while this person is sitting in detention to go forward in immigration court, where he should not even be in the first place.
(...)
1:30 p.m. Eastern
CARDENAS: Right. And that is one of the issues with immigration at this stage is that it's very difficult to now tell people what their rights are when policy continues to change.
My inclination is that a lot of people who were working there had valid work authorization, but the way in which this administration is now arresting people when they're going to courts, arresting people when they're going to their check ins, arresting collaterals, perhaps they have one specific target in mind and they arrest everyone else who's there. And then once they're in detention, saying that, “Okay, this person no longer has work authorization.” We see USCIS now also a sister agency of ICE, taking away work authorization for people who would otherwise qualify, because that has been the new policy decision.
So it makes it very difficult to advise people what is the legal thing to do, what is the right thing to do, when that when this administration keeps moving that target.
The second thing that this administration is very keen on is immigration judges don't have the authority to really review constitutional issues. So where we see people being picked up because they ran through a stop sign or they ran a red light when they get into immigration court, those charges aren't actually true. Or they were mistaken. They're still an immigration court. And just because of where they were born and the lack of valid documents, they will continue in immigration court. And then the third point here is this is part of a broader issue. Immigration is no longer a them issue. It is an American issue. And we're all connected here. And we are going to see the ripple effects of targeting, the way that this administration has been targeting non-citizens.
JANSING: Veronica Cardenas, it’s important information and an important story. Thank you for being with us.
CARDENAS: Thank you.
