The spouse of an active-duty Army sergeant is currently being held at an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas, highlighting the Trump administration’s reduced consideration for military families facing immigration issues.
Army Sergeant Jose Serrano, who completed three deployments to Afghanistan, reported that immigration officers took his wife into custody on April 14 during what was supposed to be a routine meeting with immigration officials to advance her permanent residency application.
“A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested,” Serrano said. “Arrested without any order, any warrant … They took away my wife. They don’t tell me anything.”
Deisy Rivera Ortega, originally from El Salvador, has since filed a legal challenge in federal court to contest her detention and prevent deportation to Mexico, a country where she has no connections and where active military personnel face travel restrictions.
Her legal representative, Attorney Matthew James Kozik, noted that Rivera Ortega possessed valid employment authorization and had previously received protection from removal to El Salvador.
The Department of Homeland Security responded via email that Rivera Ortega crossed into the United States without authorization in 2016 and received a final removal order from a judge in December 2019.
“Work authorization does not confer any legal status to be in the country. Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal,” the department stated, without clarifying whether deportation to Mexico was being considered.
Rivera Ortega is currently housed at the El Paso Service Processing Center, where Serrano was permitted to visit on Sunday, speaking with his wife through a protective barrier.
The couple had sought relief under the “parole in place” program, which previously offered military spouses a potentially faster route to permanent legal status.
However, last April, DHS rescinded a 2022 directive that treated military service by immediate family members as a “significant mitigating factor” when making immigration enforcement decisions. The current policy declares that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
