Several times over the past three weeks, Karla Toledo’s life has changed drastically.
Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the 31-year-old DACA recipient. Four days later, ICE released Toledo on bond, but the agency was still attempting to deport her.
This week, another major development unfurled: An immigration judge dismissed the case against Toledo altogether.
“I have a lot of emotions,” Toledo said in Spanish Wednesday morning, addressing a cluster of reporters and community members outside immigration court in downtown Tucson.
“But I want to tell you that I’m not the only one,” she added tearfully. “I’m not the only one this is happening to.”
Dozens of supporters surrounded the Tucson resident, holding signs bearing Toledo’s face. A Department of Homeland Security vehicle was parked nearby.
News of the dismissal was met with shouts and applause Wednesday. Still, a sense of uncertainty hovered over Toledo as she discussed her case openly with reporters. Her active DACA status is set to expire soon, she explained — and her application to renew that legal status is still pending.
“I’ve checked it every day, and still nothing has happened,” Toledo said.
Mo Goldman, Toledo’s attorney, said that delay is part of a well-documented trend under the Trump administration.
“They have thousands, tens of thousands of applications for new DACAs that they're not processing,” he said Wednesday.
‘They can come back and get her again’##
ICE detained Toledo on May 18 — a move that drew swift community backlash. Hours after she was taken into custody, residents rallied for Toledo’s release outside the ICE Tucson Field Office.
In a statement later that week, an ICE spokesperson alleged that Toledo had illegally entered the country in 2024.
“Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of DACA are not automatically protected from deportations,” the spokesperson said.
Toledo’s legal team quickly disputed that account, noting that Toledo had exited and re-entered the country in 2024 using advance parole, a type of travel authorization for DACA recipients.
On May 22, the agency released Toledo on a $1,500 bond, though the agency’s removal proceedings against her remained active. After Toledo’s release from custody, Goldman filed a motion to terminate those removal proceedings altogether.
Then, he said, ICE made a similar request of its own.
“(Tuesday), I found out that ICE was going to file a separate motion and they did, asking that her case be dismissed,” Goldman explained.
After ICE made the request to dismiss Toledo’s case, the presiding immigration judge, Irene Feldman, obliged.
It’s not clear why ICE sought to dismiss Toledo’s case. Speaking to AZPM, Goldman said ICE had cited a change in circumstances, though the agency did not disclose more details to Toledo’s attorney.
AZPM reached out to ICE seeking comment on its request to dismiss Toledo’s case; as of Wednesday afternoon, the agency has not provided an explanation.
Goldman said Toledo’s case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning ICE could refile the case.
“That means they can come back and get her again. We cannot stand for that,” Goldman said.
‘Hope for the best’##
DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was designed under the Obama administration to provide legal protections for immigrants who arrived in the country as children.
Toledo, Goldman pointed out, fits that description well: She arrived in the United States when she was a year old.
“She's lived 97% of her life in this country. 97%. Think about that. She was a year old when she came to the United States. She's done everything right,” Goldman said.
But for more than a year, the Trump administration has sought to strip protections from DACA recipients — marking an unprecedented turn in immigration enforcement operations.
In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that DACA recipients are not automatically protected from removal proceedings or deportation. DHS has also encouraged DACA recipients to self-deport.
What's more, ICE has arrested hundreds of DACA recipients, though the total number to date is not entirely clear. According to a memo from former DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, however, the agency arrested 261 DACA recipients in the first nine months of the Trump presidency.
“We’re under attack,” Toledo said Wednesday. “So, for other DACA recipients, I have a message: be prepared, get your papers, put them on a drive, to be prepared.”
Toledo, who works as an interpreter and volunteers with local non-profits, said she plans to put together a guide that would help other DACA recipients protect themselves in the event that they’re approached, or detained, by ICE.
She added: “I’ve heard a saying that goes, ‘prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.’”
