ICE detained the wife of an Army sergeant during an immigration appointment despite her holding a valid work permit.
Deisy Rivera Ortega was detained on 14 April during a routine'Parole in Place' interviewin El Paso, Texas, a programme intended to regularise undocumented family members of military personnel. She is currently held at the El Paso Service Processing Centre.
'At the end of the hallway, my wife was apprehended ... they put handcuffs on and took her away,' her husband, Sergeant Jose Serrano, toldABC. 'No information was given, even when questions were raised about what was happening.'
Rivera Ortega works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss and holds a work permit valid until 2030. She was granted withholding of removal from El Salvador in 2019, according to ABC.
'She is entitled to contest those third-party designations ... she has the right to challenge any termination,' said Matthew Kozik, the couple's attorney. 'There is no clarity, which has led to action in federal court to halt this.'
Authorities have threatened to deport her to Mexico, a country with which the couple has no ties. Serrano said travel there would likely be impossible while serving on active duty.
'In the Army, travel to Mexico is highly restricted,' Kozik confirmed. 'He could not even visit his wife.' The situation has taken a toll on Serrano, who has struggled with his mental health since her detention last week.
'I can't sleep even with the medication, I can't even read,' he said. 'It's super painful and stressful to not be able to do anything.' He added that all legal requirements had been followed to ensure his wife remained in the United States.
'I don't really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one,' he said in an interview withCBS News. 'I love the army. [The] army helped me out for almost 28 years. It's not the army, sir. It's ICE. ICE is out of control right now, sir, taking away rights, as soldiers, that we have.' Serrano, 51, has served in the Army for 27 years, including three deployments to Afghanistan.
Rivera Ortega's case reflects the grey areas of immigration enforcement, with critics arguing that the law should be applied with greater consideration. Marriage alone does not protect the partners of military personnel from deportation, though authorities assess several factors before acting.
Source: International Business Times UK
