‘A betrayal’
Navarro grew up in Tucson and attended Palo Verde Magnet High School, where he fell in love with engineering while participating in robotics competitions. As he progressed through school, his younger sister Patricia — nicknamed Anahiz — was diagnosed with leukemia. She died at age 11.
Even as a young girl, Navarro’s sister encouraged him to pursue his dreams, he recalled Tuesday.
Now, Navarro is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Arizona. But as he considers his future career plans, his immigration status looms.
In 2021, under the Biden administration, Navarro said he applied for DACA. But a federal judge in Texas struck down the initiative that summer, leaving Navarro’s case in limbo.
“I did biometrics, which is when you do fingerprints,” Navarro said. “You sign stuff, background checks…”
He paused.
“What I’ve learned from the US government so far,” he continued, “is that they’re really great at taking money. But they’re not really great at producing back what you’re asking for.”
In 2025, Navarro said, he filed a I-130 petition, an application to apply for a green card through his wife, who is a citizen. It was denied due to a signature error, according to his attorney, Mo Goldman.
Finally, in April, Navarro received a letter from the federal government: he’d been placed in deportation proceedings.
“What happened in his case was a betrayal,” Goldman said Tuesday.
Navarro’s next hearing is scheduled for late September, he said. A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Navarro’s case.