U.S. Army Sergeant's Wife Detained Amid Shift in Immigration Policy
ICE detains the wife of an Army sergeant in Texas as military family leniency wanes
The Boston Globe
Image: The Boston Globe
Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of a U.S. Army sergeant, is detained in El Paso, Texas, as the Trump administration tightens immigration policies affecting military families. Her husband, Jose Serrano, claims her arrest occurred during a routine immigration appointment, raising concerns about the treatment of immigrant family members of service members.
- 01Deisy Rivera Ortega was detained by ICE during an immigration appointment.
- 02Jose Serrano, her husband and an active-duty soldier, is advocating for her release.
- 03The Trump administration has reversed leniency policies for military families regarding immigration.
- 04Rivera Ortega has a valid work permit and previously received a withholding of removal.
- 05New policies indicate military service does not exempt individuals from immigration enforcement.
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Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of U.S. Army sergeant Jose Serrano, is currently detained at the El Paso Service Processing Center in Texas after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during an immigration appointment on April 14. Serrano, who has served three tours in Afghanistan, reported that immigration agents arrested his wife without a warrant, leaving him without information about her situation. Rivera Ortega, originally from El Salvador, is challenging her detention in U.S. District Court and has requested to block her deportation to Mexico, a country where she has no ties. Her attorney, Matthew James Kozik, emphasized that Rivera Ortega held a valid work permit and had previously been granted a withholding of removal. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally in 2016 and that a final order of removal was issued in December 2019. The recent shift in immigration policy under the Trump administration has eliminated leniency previously extended to military families, stating that military service alone does not exempt individuals from immigration enforcement. This change raises concerns about the treatment of immigrant family members of U.S. service members.
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The detention of Rivera Ortega highlights the increasing challenges faced by immigrant families of military personnel, potentially affecting their ability to seek residency and stability.
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