WASHINGTON — Stephanie Villarreal told Spectrum News that life with her husband Juan Chavez Velasco in the Rio Grande Valley was starting to feel complete. They got married, bought a home and were raising a 4-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter when they welcomed another baby girl in February. What You Need To Know Juan Chavez Velasco, a DACA recipient and medical lab specialist, was detained by immigration officers outside his Weslaco home while on his way to deliver breastmilk for his 6-week-old daughter in the NICU According to the Department of Homeland Security, an immigration judge in 2005 issued Chavez Velasco a final order of removal and said "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country" His attorney argues that Chavez Velasco, who has no criminal history and has held DACA protections since 2012, is being targeted amid shifting political priorities over the program's meaning and scope “Everything was feeling great, you know, and right now it just feels torn apart,” Villareal said. “I’ve been feeling very alone through the entire process and it just means everything for us to be together, and I really hope that that can happen.” Villarreal’s husband was picked up by immigration enforcement officers outside of their Weslaco home last month. He was on the way to deliver breastmilk to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit for their 6-week-old. “I was panicking, to be honest with you,” Villarreal said. “I immediately started crying, and I didn't know what to do, like I was super confused about the entire situation.” Confused especially because Chavez Velasco has authorization to work in the U.S. The medical lab specialist is a recipient of DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The Obama-era program allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to live and work in the country without fear of deportation. Chavez Velasco was born in Colombia and entered the U.S. with his parents on a tourist visa when he was 8 years old. According to President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, an immigration judge in 2005 issued him a final order of removal. His immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin said she believes that should not matter since the now-35-year-old has had DACA protections since 2012. “They chose to pick him up anyway, just because of a political sea change with respect to what does Deferred Action mean, and also to, you know, a disregard for priorities,” Goodwin said. “He's not a criminal. He's never had any criminal history whatsoever. He, in no way, shape or form, could ever be painted as a criminal immigrant or, you know, the worst of the worst.” “He's the best of the best that our country has to offer,” Goodwin continued. In a statement to Spectrum News, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said, “Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations. DACA does NOT confer any form of legal status in this country. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.” Democrats in Congress said they are alarmed that DACA recipients are being swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. In a January letter, DHS told House Democrats that 270 DACA recipients had been arrested between Jan. 1 and Sept. 28 last year. More than 70 of them were arrested in Texas cities. The department said most had criminal convictions or pending charges. But U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, who represents Chavez Velasco and his family, said DACA recipients go through regular background checks to keep their status. “This is the narrative they're trying to push on the American people in a very false way, but people have awoken. People in South Texas are very, have it very clear that this is an abuse on our community and an extreme abuse of powers within this agency that needs to be addressed from the top down,” Gonzalez told Spectrum News. Gonzalez said he also is concerned the administration is slow walking back DACA renewals. Chavez Velasco’s family hopes his legal status gets renewed soon, as he waits in a Webb County detention center, more than three hours away from his family’s home. “It's been very hard, you know, trying to juggle everything, and luckily, I have a lot of support from my family. His family has been very supportive, as well,” Villareal said. “But even at that, we don't feel complete, you know, it's just been very hard for us.” And until he is home, a South Texas family that once felt complete, now feels anything but.