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 the 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 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, was at the immigration services that day to begin the process of obtaining permanent residence for his wife, Deisy Rivera Ortega, from El Salvador.
According to an email from the Ministry of Homeland Security, she entered the United States illegally in 2016, and a judge had issued a final deportation order in December 2019. According to her lawyer, she had been granted a suspension of deportation to El Salvador to allow her to start the process and even had a valid work permit.
“The work permit 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 viable path to permanent residency for military spouses.
However, this program is coming to an end under the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has rescinded a 2012 policy that considered a close family member’s military service as a “significant mitigating factor” in deciding whether to prosecute immigration matters.
The new administration policy states that “military service alone does not exempt foreigners from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
