Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant, was arrested April 14 during an immigration appointment and is being held at the El Paso Service Processing Center. Her husband, Sgt. Jose Serrano, says agents detained her without a warrant while they were pursuing steps toward her permanent residency. Rivera Ortega had a work permit and prior withholding of removal to El Salvador; DHS says she entered in 2016 and received a final removal order in December 2019. Her attorneys have filed a federal challenge as DHS has rescinded a 2022 policy that had treated military family ties as a mitigating factor in enforcement.
Army Sergeant’s Wife Detained During Immigration Appointment As DHS Tightens Leniency For Military Families
FILE - Cars wait to enter Fort Bliss, Texas, Sept. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant, was arrested April 14 during an immigration appointment and is being held at the El Paso Service Processing Center as advocates and attorneys challenge her detention in federal court.
Her husband, Sgt. Jose Serrano — who has served three tours in Afghanistan — says immigration officers took Rivera Ortega into custody without presenting a warrant while the couple attended an appointment to pursue steps toward her permanent residency.
“A person opened the door, escorted us through the hallway, and at the end of the hallway, my wife got arrested,” Serrano said. “Arrested without any order, any warrant ... They took away my wife. They don’t tell me anything.”
Attorney Matthew James Kozik says Rivera Ortega held a valid work permit and had previously been granted withholding of removal to El Salvador, a form of protection that can bar deportation to certain countries where a return would endanger the individual. Rivera Ortega has asked a federal judge to block her deportation to Mexico, which she says is a country where she has no ties and where visits by active-duty U.S. personnel are restricted.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Rivera Ortega entered the United States without inspection in 2016 and that a judge issued a final order of removal in December 2019. "Work authorization does not confer any legal status to be in the country. Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal," the agency said.
Serrano said he was able to visit his wife at the El Paso facility and speak with her through a plastic partition. Rivera Ortega had applied for consideration under the "parole in place" policy, which has in the past provided a possible expedited pathway to permanent residency for spouses and family members of service members.
Policy Changes and Wider Implications
Advocates say the arrest highlights a broader shift in enforcement. Last April, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded a 2022 directive that had treated the military service of an immediate family member as a "significant mitigating factor" in enforcement decisions. The department's current guidance states that "military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws," signaling reduced discretion for leniency in some family-member cases.
The case remains pending in U.S. District Court as attorneys seek to prevent Rivera Ortega's removal and clarify whether she can remain in the United States based on her ties to an active-duty service member.
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