ICE Detains Army Sergeant’s Wife in Texas as Policy Shift Narrows Military Family Relief
Santa Fe— U.S. immigration authorities have detained the wife of an active-duty Army sergeant in Texas, according to officials and legal representatives, in a case that underscores a tightening of enforcement policies affecting immigrant relatives of military personnel.
Jose Serrano, a serving U.S. soldier who completed three tours in Afghanistan, said his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, was arrested on April 14 during an appointment with immigration officials as the couple pursued steps toward securing her permanent residency.
“A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested,” Serrano said, adding that he was not provided documentation or an explanation at the time of the detention.
Rivera Ortega, a native of El Salvador, is being held at the El Paso Service Processing Center and has challenged her detention in U.S. District Court. Her legal team has also sought to block any deportation to Mexico, arguing she has no ties to the country and citing restrictions on travel there for active-duty U.S.
troops.Her attorney, Matthew James Kozik, said Rivera Ortega held a valid work permit and had previously been granted withholding of removal to El Salvador, a form of protection that prevents deportation to a country where an individual may face harm.
The Department of Homeland Security said Rivera Ortega entered the United States illegally in 2016 and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in December 2019.
In a statement, the agency said that work authorization does not confer legal status and that she remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending removal proceedings. It did not specify whether deportation to Mexico was under consideration.
The case comes amid policy changes by the administration that have reduced discretionary protections previously extended to military families. Rivera Ortega had applied under the “parole in place” program, which has historically provided certain undocumented spouses of U.S. service members a pathway toward legal residency.
However, the Department of Homeland Security last April rescinded a 2022 policy that treated a family member’s military service as a significant mitigating factor in immigration enforcement decisions. The revised guidance states that military service alone does not exempt individuals from enforcement of immigration laws.
Serrano said he visited his wife at the detention facility on Sunday, where they communicated through a partition, as legal proceedings continue.
