She was in the process of applying for her permanent residence. The wife of an American army sergeant was arrested on April 14 by the controversial American immigration police, as reported by Associated Press.
“Someone opened the door, led us through the hallway, and at the end, my wife was arrested,” regrets Sergeant José Serrano. “Arrested without an order, without a warrant… They took my wife. They didn’t tell me anything.”
“No legal status to stay”
This soldier, still in service after three missions in Afghanistan, had gone to immigration services that day to apply for permanent residence for his wife Deisy Rivera Ortega, originally from El Salvador.
According to an email from the Ministry of Homeland Security, she had entered the U.S. illegally in 2016, and a judge issued a final deportation order in December 2019. According to her lawyer, she had been granted a deportation suspension to El Salvador while she conducted her proceedings and even had a valid work permit.
“The work authorization does not confer any legal status to stay in the United States. Rivera Ortega remains detained by ICE pending deportation,” the agency confirmed to AP.
Deisy Rivera Ortega has currently filed a joint request with her husband under the “parole in place” policy, which previously offered a potentially favorable path to permanent residence for military spouses.
However, this leniency is coming to an end under the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revoked a 2012 policy that considered close family members’ military service as a “significant mitigating factor” in deciding whether to pursue immigration enforcement.
The new administration policy states that “military service alone does not exempt foreigners from the consequences of violating American immigration laws.”
