SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The wife of an U.S. Army sergeant is being held at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, as immigration enforcement under the Trump administration appears to be intensifying against immigrant family members of military personnel.
Jose Serrano, who served three tours in Afghanistan, described the day of his wife Deisy Rivera Ortega’s arrest on April 14 while they sought an appointment with immigration services for her permanent residency application.
Serrano recounted, “A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested.” He emphasized that the arrest was made without any order or warrant.
Deisy, a native of El Salvador, is currently challenging her detention in U.S. District Court and urging for an order to prevent her deportation to Mexico, a country with which she has no ties and where active-duty U.S. troops are barred from visiting. Her attorney has noted that she previously had a valid work permit and had been granted a withholding of removal to El Salvador.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally in 2016 and that a judge issued a final order of removal in December 2019. However, they clarified that work authorization does not secure legal status in the country and stated that Rivera Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal. No information was provided on the possibility of deportation to Mexico.
Serrano was able to visit Rivera Ortega at the El Paso Service Processing Center, where they communicated through a plastic partition. She had applied for the “parole in place” policy that offered a potentially quicker route to permanent residency for military spouses. However, the Department of Homeland Security abolished a policy last April that previously considered military service as a mitigating factor in immigration enforcement actions. The new directives assert that military service does not exempt individuals from the repercussions of violating U.S. immigration laws.}
Jose Serrano, who served three tours in Afghanistan, described the day of his wife Deisy Rivera Ortega’s arrest on April 14 while they sought an appointment with immigration services for her permanent residency application.
Serrano recounted, “A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested.” He emphasized that the arrest was made without any order or warrant.
Deisy, a native of El Salvador, is currently challenging her detention in U.S. District Court and urging for an order to prevent her deportation to Mexico, a country with which she has no ties and where active-duty U.S. troops are barred from visiting. Her attorney has noted that she previously had a valid work permit and had been granted a withholding of removal to El Salvador.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally in 2016 and that a judge issued a final order of removal in December 2019. However, they clarified that work authorization does not secure legal status in the country and stated that Rivera Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal. No information was provided on the possibility of deportation to Mexico.
Serrano was able to visit Rivera Ortega at the El Paso Service Processing Center, where they communicated through a plastic partition. She had applied for the “parole in place” policy that offered a potentially quicker route to permanent residency for military spouses. However, the Department of Homeland Security abolished a policy last April that previously considered military service as a mitigating factor in immigration enforcement actions. The new directives assert that military service does not exempt individuals from the repercussions of violating U.S. immigration laws.}
