An active-duty U.S. Army sergeant, with 27 years of military service, expressed confusion over his wife’s recent detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas. Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano, 51, revealed that his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, was apprehended by ICE on April 14 during an immigration office appointment in El Paso.
Rivera Ortega, who married Serrano in 2022, has been residing in the U.S. since 2016 and was granted legal protection in 2019 to prevent her deportation to El Salvador, as per U.S. immigration court records. Despite this, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Rivera Ortega entered the U.S. illegally, leading to the possibility of deportation to a third country like Mexico, where she has no connections.
Serrano, deeply impacted by his wife’s detention, highlighted the toll it has taken on his mental health, citing difficulty sleeping since the incident. He emphasized the harsh impact on military families, as ICE detentions of immigrant spouses and parents of U.S. service members have surged in the past few years. This trend is attributed to the Trump administration’s removal of restrictions on ICE operations, widening the scope of individuals subject to arrest and deportation.
DHS reported that Rivera Ortega was labeled a “criminal illegal alien” from El Salvador due to a federal misdemeanor offense related to illegal entry into the U.S. The couple’s application for Parole in Place, designed to safeguard military relatives without legal status from deportation, remains pending.
Serrano emphasized the urgency of his wife’s situation and filed a habeas petition challenging the legality of her detention. He and his attorney, Matthew Kozik, are actively working to seek justice and prevent the potential deportation of Rivera Ortega. The uncertainty faced by military families like Serrano’s underscores the need for protections and support within the immigration system to uphold the promise of safeguarding those who serve in the military.
