1 month ago
A US army sergeant pinch 27 years of subject work – including deployment to Afghanistan – has said that national migration agents precocious arrested his woman during an assignment astatine an El Paso, Texas, migration office.
In an question and reply pinch CBS News published Monday, Sgt First Class Jose Serrano said that Deisy Rivera Ortega, a Salvadoran and his wife, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers nether nan bid of nan Trump management contempt receiving ineligible protection successful 2019 that bars her from being deported to El Salvador. Rivera Ortega, who wed Serrano successful 2022, has been successful nan US since 2016, he said.
“I don’t really understand why, because she followed nan rules of migration by nan T since time one,” Serrano, 51, told CBS News of her detention.
The Department of homeland information (DHS), which oversees ICE, told CBS News that Rivera Ortega came into nan US illegally. Serrano reportedly said he was informed that Rivera Ortega could beryllium removed to a different country, specified arsenic Mexico.
Serrano said that Rivera Ortega has nary ties to Mexico. “We don’t cognize cipher successful Mexico,” he told CBS.
He besides told nan web she had an progressive activity licence earlier her apprehension astatine an migration rule agency assignment connected 14 April.
Rivera Ortega’s reported lawsuit is nan latest of respective instances that contradict nan Trump administration’s first claims that its ongoing migration crackdown would prioritize deporting vulnerable criminals. As it has sought to summation deportation numbers, nan run has affected a increasing number of subject work members’ relatives – often without information for nan veterans’ records of having defended nan US.
DHS told CBS that Rivera Ortega was ordered deported connected 12 December 2019 and had received “full owed process” anterior to that decision. The section called her a “criminal forbidden alien” complete her condemnation of forbidden introduction into nan US, which is simply a national misdemeanor.
Matthew Kozik, an lawyer who represents Serrano and Rivera Ortega, said that a tribunal petition claiming her detention was illegal. Kozik told CBS he had served nan service arsenic a judge advocator and combat veteran; had earned a bronze prima during his work and believed “what is going connected is absurd”.
Serrano for his portion told CBS: “I emotion nan army. (The) service helped maine retired for almost 28 years. It’s not nan army, sir. It’s ICE.
“ICE is retired of power correct now, sir, taking distant rights, arsenic soldiers, that we have.”
Serrano told CBS he would apt beryllium incapable to sojourn his woman successful Mexico, fixed restrictions connected US military members’ travel.
“Since this happened, I’m sleeping only 2 hours a day, 2 hours a night,” said Serrano, who has antecedently undergone curen for traumatic encephalon wounded and post-traumatic accent disorder.
In different akin case, ICE agents reportedly detained nan woman of a US service sergeant astatine his Louisiana subject guidelines arsenic he was getting fresh to deploy. Agents arrested Annie Ramos specified days aft her matrimony to Matthew Blank, whose deployments included stints successful nan Middle East and Europe.
The New York Times, which first reported on Ramos’ detention, said that she was a biochemistry student and Sunday schoolhouse coach and has nary criminal past. Ramos received a deportation bid “in absentia” aft her family grounded to spell to an migration proceeding successful 2005 – erstwhile she was a baby.
Ramos was released from national custody aft her lawsuit was covered successful nan news media. After her release, she issued a connection saying her attraction would beryllium connected obtaining ineligible immigration.
Meanwhile, successful May 2025, nan boy of a US subject seasoned was deported to Jamaica. That man, named Jermaine Thomas does not person citizenship successful immoderate state aft being calved connected a US subject guidelines successful Germany, nan Austin Chronicle reported.
Thomas’s father, a US national who is deceased, was calved successful Jamaica. Federal authorities claimed that Thomas, who had antecedently been ordered deported, was not an American national simply because he was calved connected a US Army base, and they invoked anterior criminal convictions to support their push to deport him.
Neither DHS nor ICE instantly responded to a petition for remark astir Rivera Ortega’s detention.
The US service for its portion said it was referring questions to DHS.
