Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of U.S. Army Sergeant Jose Serrano, remains detained in an immigration facility in El Paso, Texas, following an arrest during a visit to immigration services for her green card application. Serrano, who served three tours in Afghanistan, described how immigration agents took his wife without an order or explanation. Since the April 14 incident, Rivera Ortega has legally contested her detention in Federal Court, seeking to prevent her deportation to Mexico.
Rivera Ortega is originally from El Salvador and claimed that she has a valid work permit and a previous withholding of removal to El Salvador. Despite these claims, the Department of Homeland Security stated that Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally in 2016, and a judge had set a final order of removal in December 2019. They noted that her work authorization does not confer legal status, and she remains in custody while awaiting removal.
Serrano managed to visit Rivera Ortega at the El Paso facility and communicated with her through a plastic barrier. They were hopeful for her application consideration under the 'parole in place' policy, designed to expedite residency for military families. However, significant changes in immigration enforcement policies under the Trump administration have posed challenges for servicemembers' families. In April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a policy that previously allowed military service as a mitigating factor against immigration enforcement actions.
Under the new policy, the DHS emphasizes that military service alone does not exempt individuals from the consequences of unlawful presence in the U.S., indicating a formidable shift in how immigrant families of service members are treated.
