U.S. Active-Duty Soldier's Wife Detained by Immigration Authorities 'Again'

Wife of Army Sergeant with 27 Years of Service Detained During Visit to Immigration Office

Another case has emerged in which the wife of an active-duty U.S. military service member has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities, causing a stir.

According to CBS News and other outlets, Daisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of Sergeant Jose Serrano (51), who is serving in the U.S. Army, was detained on April 14 (local time) after making an appointment and visiting the immigration office in El Paso, Texas.

Rivera Ortega is originally from El Salvador. She has been residing in the United States since 2016 and married Serrano in 2022.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent photographed in Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital, on November 17 last year. Photo by AP News Agency

The media, citing court documents, reported that in December 2019, she was granted legal protection that prevented her from being deported to her home country, El Salvador, and allowed her to obtain a permit to work legally in the United States.

Rivera Ortega is currently being held at the El Paso Processing Center of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). CBS also cited a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official who stated that Rivera Ortega had entered the United States illegally.

Sergeant Serrano told CBS, "My wife has strictly followed immigration rules from day one, so I really don't understand why this happened." He also appealed that his wife had a valid work permit at the time of her detention.

He recounted that the immigration office staff told him, "We can't send your wife to El Salvador, but we will send her to Mexico." Serrano explained that he had applied last year for a special program that defers deportation for military spouses on behalf of his wife. He said the reason she made an appointment and visited the immigration office was because of this application.

The National Guard of Washington, D.C., USA. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Annie Ramos (22), the wife of Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank (23), who is stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana, was detained by ICE. The couple, who married in March, had planned to start their married life living within the military base as a military family, hoping to receive military benefits and assistance with their U.S. citizenship application.

However, immigration authorities detained and held Ramos in accordance with the Trump administration's policy of mass arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. According to The New York Times, which first reported Ramos's detention, she came to the United States in 2005 before her second birthday. The Department of Homeland Security explained that her family failed to appear in immigration court that year, which ultimately resulted in a removal order from the court.

Last April, U.S. immigration authorities rescinded a policy, enacted in 2022, that had eased immigration enforcement and provided deportation deferrals for immediate family members of U.S. military personnel. The new Trump administration policy shifted to, "Simply being a military (family) member does not grant foreign nationals who violate U.S. immigration law any immunity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.