ICE Detained the Wife of a U.S. Soldier After an Immigration Appointment

Although they are no longer dominating news coverage the way they once were, ICE detentions are continuing all across the country, and sometimes, those detentions make news because of who has been arrested. According to an interview with CBS News, ICE has detained the wife of a U.S. soldier after she attended an immigration appointment.

Following the news that ICE had detained someone who is married to a U.S. servicemember, many want to better understand exactly what happened. Here's what we know.

According to Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano, his wife Deisy Rivera Ortega, a Salvadoran, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite receiving legal protection in 2019 that protects her from deportation. The two were married in 2022, and she has been in the United States since 2016.

“I don’t really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one,” Serrano said.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said that Rivera Ortega came to the U.S. illegally. Serrano also said that he was informed that his wife could be removed to a third country, like Mexico, instead of being deported back to El Salvador. Rivera Ortega was arrested at an immigration law office appointment on April 14, which has become a common tactic for ICE agents.

The news that she was apprehended by ICE comes as it becomes increasingly clear that President Trump's promise to focus on deporting criminals has come for plenty of people with deeper ties to the U.S.

For its part, DHS has claimed that Rivera Ortega was ordered deported on Dec. 12, 2019, and that she was accorded "full due process" before that decision was reached. They also called her a "criminal illegal alien," language designed to make it clear that they view her as a criminal.

In speaking with CBS, Serrano said that he believes ICE is now fully out of control.

“I love the army. [The] army helped me out for almost 28 years. It’s not the army, sir. It’s ICE," he explained. “ICE is out of control right now, sir, taking away rights, as soldiers, that we have.”

An attorney representing Serrano and Rivera Ortega has said that he believes Rivera Ortega is being held illegally.

Serrano said that, because members of the U.S. military are often restricted from traveling, he might not be able to visit his wife if she is deported to Mexico.

“Since this happened, I’m sleeping only two hours a day, two hours a night,” he explained.

Even those who voted for Trump likely didn't anticipate that service members would be among those who suffered the consequences of his deportation policies.

Rivera Ortega's cause is just one of thousands across the country that are being fought in court. While it hasn't been resolved yet, the idea of losing your wife to deportation to another country is devastating, and one that is especially heartbreaking because of what Serrano has sacrificed for his country.