ICE Releases Deisy Rivera Ortega, Salvadoran Wife of US Army Sergeant, from Detention

Deisy Rivera Ortega, the Salvadoran wife of a US Army sergeant and Afghanistan veteran, has been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, her lawyer confirmed. Rivera Ortega was arrested on 14 April when she and her husband, Sergeant Jose Serrano, attended a scheduled immigration appointment in El Paso, Texas.

Sergeant Serrano, who has nearly 28 years of military service, expressed distress over his wife's detention. The couple was applying for 'parole-in-place', a programme allowing military spouses to remain in the US while their immigration cases are processed. Court documents indicate Rivera Ortega crossed the US-Mexico border in 2016 and was subject to a 2019 removal order, though a judge simultaneously granted her protection from deportation under the Convention Against Torture, citing concerns about potential harm in El Salvador.

Following her arrest, officials reportedly considered deporting Rivera Ortega to Mexico. US Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and Iraq War veteran, contacted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin regarding the case. Senator Duckworth criticised the detention, stating Rivera Ortega was "doing everything 'the right way'" and that such actions represent a "betrayal to our heroes".

This incident marks the second time in April that ICE has detained the wife of an active US service member. Annie Ramos, wife of Sergeant Matthew Blank, was also held for five days before her release earlier in the month.