EL PASO, TEXAS — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Deisy Rivera Ortega during an appointment at an immigration office in El Paso, Texas, on April 14, despite a 2019 legal protection that bars her removal to El Salvador. Rivera Ortega, who has lived in the United States since 2016, held an active work permit at the time of her arrest.

Her husband, Sgt. First Class Jose Serrano, a U.S. Army soldier with 27 years of service including a deployment to Afghanistan, married Rivera Ortega in 2022. "I don't really understand why, because she followed the rules of immigration by the T since day one," Serrano said.

Serrano said he was told his wife could be removed to a country such as Mexico, and that restrictions on U.S. military members' travel would likely prevent him from visiting her there. "We don't know nobody in Mexico," he said.

Attorney Matthew Kozik filed a court petition claiming Rivera Ortega's detention was illegal. Kozik served in the Army as a judge advocate and combat veteran and earned a Bronze Star. "What is going on is absurd," Kozik said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Rivera Ortega entered the United States illegally and was ordered deported on December 12, 2019, after receiving what the department described as "full due process." DHS described her as a "criminal illegal alien" because of her conviction for illegal entry, a federal misdemeanor.

The Trump administration initially said its immigration enforcement would prioritize deporting dangerous criminals. ICE deported 174 DACA recipients through most of last year, according to a letter.