A 27-year Army veteran is speaking out after federal immigration agents reportedly arrested his wife at a routine immigration office visit in El Paso in Texas.
Who is Deisy Rivera Ortega?
Deisy Rivera Ortega is from El Salvador and has been living in the United States since 2016. She married Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano in 2022, a US Army veteran who has served for 27 years, including in Afghanistan. According to CBS News, she had a military ID that showed she is the spouse of an active-duty Army soldier.
At the time she was detained, Rivera Ortega had a valid work permit and was working at two hotels inside Fort Bliss in El Paso in Texas. Her husband said she followed all the rules from the beginning.
“I don’t really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one,” Serrano told CBS News.
What happened?
According to CBS News, Rivera Ortega was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on April 14 during what was supposed to be a routine visit to an immigration office in El Paso, Texas. She had gone there for an interview related to a Parole in Place application. This program is meant to help military spouses who do not have legal status by offering protection from deportation and a possible path to permanent residency.
Serrano said he had applied for this program for his wife last year and the case is still pending. He also told CBS News that he informed officials about his military service before his wife was taken into custody but he was not given any explanation for the arrest. Rivera Ortega is still being held at ICE’s El Paso processing center, according to the agency’s online detainee system.
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Why was she detained despite having legal protections?
In December 2019, an immigration judge granted Rivera Ortega protection under the Convention Against Torture. This is a United Nations agreement that stops people from being sent back to countries where they could face harm. Because of this, she could not be deported to El Salvador and was allowed to live and work legally in the US, according to CBS News.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the network that Rivera Ortega entered the US illegally and was ordered to be deported on December 12, 2019. DHS called her a “criminal illegal alien” and said this was based on a conviction for illegal entry, which is a federal misdemeanor. The department also said she had received “full due process” before the order. “Rivera-Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal,” DHS added.
While her legal protections stop her from being sent back to El Salvador, they do not prevent the government from deporting her to another country. According to CBS News, Rivera Ortega has been told she could be sent to Mexico.
“We don’t know nobody in Mexico,” her husband told the network.
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Matthew Kozik, the lawyer representing Rivera Ortega and her husband has filed a case in federal court arguing that her detention is not legal.
Serrano said he is not blaming the military, but ICE.
“I love the Army. (The) Army helped me out for almost 28 years. It’s not the Army, sir. It’s ICE,” he said.
“ICE is out of control right now, sir, taking away rights, as soldiers, that we have,” he added.
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