The wife of an active-duty Salvadoran American soldier detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be deported to Mexico.
Staff Sergeant Jose Serrano, an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant who served the Army for 27 years, including several years in Afghanistan, said ICE spiraled out of control after his wife, Daisy Rivera Ortega, who is Salvadoran by birth, was arrested by ICE on April 14 in Texas.
Ortega had an appointment at an immigration office in El Paso when she was arrested.CBS News reported that Ortega came to the United States in 2016 and was granted legal protection in 2019. Because of her legal protections, Ortega cannot be deported to El Salvador, but the administration informed 51-year-old Serrano that his wife could be deported to Mexico. “I don’t really understand why, because she followed immigration rules from day one,” Serrano said, adding that his wife had a valid work permit at the time of her arrest.“I love the Army. The Army has helped me for about 28 years. It’s not the Army, sir. It’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Serrano said in his interview with CBS. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement is out of control right now, taking away our rights as soldiers.”Serrano was born in Puerto Rico and the pair married in 2022. He also filed for parole on behalf of his wife last year, a special program designed to provide deportation protection for military spouses or parents who are in the United States.
Without legal status, the case remained pending. The wife had a military ID card describing her as the wife of an active duty Army soldier. US service members cannot travel to Mexico. If Ortega is deported to Mexico where she knows no one, Serrano will either have to leave his military career or his wife behind. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, PTSD and depression, and his mental health deteriorated after his wife was arrested because he was not sleeping.
The Department of Homeland Security says Ortega is a criminal illegal alien
In its statement to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said Ortega was ordered deported in 2019 after receiving full due process. The department described her as a “criminal illegal alien” and said she had been convicted of illegal entry into the United States.