Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of a US Army soldier, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during an immigration appointment in El Paso, Texas. Rivera Ortega, originally from El Salvador, was arrested on April 14 while attending an interview for the parole-in-place program, which allows military family members to remain in the US during immigration proceedings. Her husband, Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano, expressed distress over her detention. Rivera Ortega had entered the US in 2016 and applied for asylum. Although a judge ordered her removal in 2019, she was granted withholding of removal under the convention against torture, allowing her to stay in the US due to potential harm in El Salvador. ICE now plans to deport her to Mexico, a decision her attorney criticized as arbitrary. Serrano, a US citizen and Army veteran, married Rivera Ortega in 2022. The couple believed they were attending a routine immigration interview when Rivera Ortega was unexpectedly detained.
QUESTION: How might the detention of military spouses by immigration authorities impact the morale and well-being of active-duty service members and their families?
ICE detains wife of US Army soldier at immigration appointment
