I'm on DACA or TPS, or I'm out of status. Does that affect my injury claim?
- Texas Attorney
- Yale B.A. · University of Houston Law Center J.D.
- Habla español
- Updated October 5, 2026
No. DACA, TPS, an expired visa, a pending asylum case or no status at all does not change your right to compensation for an injury someone else caused in Texas. What can change is how we prove lost wages and how we plan around travel or a change in your status, and we handle that with you.
Tell me what happened
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Your right to compensation is the same
A Texas injury claim asks who caused the harm. It does not ask whether you have DACA, TPS, a valid visa, a pending asylum case, a work permit or no status at all. If another driver, a company or a property owner caused your injury, you can pursue the same compensation as anyone else: medical bills, lost wages, pain, mental anguish and physical impairment.
What having a work permit changes
If you have work authorization through DACA, TPS or a pending application, you may have W-2s, pay stubs and tax returns. That makes lost wages easier to prove. If your permit expired or you worked without one, we prove income another way; here is how.
If your status is uncertain or changing
TPS designations for several countries, and the DACA program itself, have been changing and in court. Those changes do not end an injury claim. If you might have to leave the United States, the case can continue: lawyers take testimony by video every day, and most cases settle without a trial. The other side may argue about future earnings if your status is uncertain, and we plan for that from the start.
Be careful about travel
Leaving the United States can affect DACA, TPS and pending applications. Do not travel abroad, even for medical care or a family emergency, without first talking to an immigration attorney. We can connect you with one, and we will work your injury case around their advice.
If you are detained while your case is open
An injury claim does not end if you are detained by immigration. Keep our number with your important papers and make sure your family knows to call us. Your immigration attorney handles the detention; we keep your injury case moving, protect the filing deadline and stay in touch with your family. Testimony can be taken by video, and your settlement can still be paid to you.
What to bring to your first call
Nothing is required, but these help: any photos of the crash or your injuries, the crash report number or the officer's card, medical papers, the name of any insurance company that has called you, and whatever proof of work you have, such as a work permit, pay stubs or messages with your boss. You never need to show us immigration papers to get help.
Your injury claim and your immigration case are separate
An injury claim is a civil case against the person or company that hurt you. It is not part of a DACA renewal, a TPS registration or an asylum case. If anything in your injury case could touch your immigration case, we coordinate with your immigration attorney. Jimmy Suerken is a Mexican-American attorney who speaks Spanish.
More answers for people injured without papers
Other ways people ask this
I'm a Dreamer with DACA. Can I sue the driver who hit me?
Yes. DACA recipients have the same right as anyone else to compensation for an injury someone else caused.
My TPS might end. Should I still file a claim?
Yes. A change in TPS does not end an injury claim, and the deadline to file keeps running either way. Most Texas injury claims must be filed within two years.
My visa expired. Does that hurt my case?
No. Being out of status does not decide who caused the crash or what you are owed.
I have an asylum case. Will an injury claim affect it?
An injury claim is a separate civil case. Keep your immigration attorney informed, and we will coordinate with them so nothing in one case surprises the other.
Authority: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 16
Your next steps, and ours
Get medical care
Your health comes first, and the medical record is what proves the claim, whatever your status.
Talk to an immigration attorney
Leaving the U.S. can affect DACA, TPS and pending applications. We can connect you with one.
Call Jimmy
713-600-6233Free and confidential. You can talk with Jimmy directly, in Spanish or English, and ask anything.
We coordinate both sides
We build the injury claim and work around your immigration attorney's advice, so neither case surprises the other.
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