The wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant with 27 years of service is facing potential deportation to a third country after being detained during a routine immigration interview last week.<\/p>\n
Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was taken into custody on April 14 in El Paso, Texas, while attending an interview for “Parole in Place,” a program designed to allow undocumented family members of military personnel to remain in the U.S. legally.<\/p>\n
Rivera Ortega is married to Sgt. 1st Class Jose Serrano, a U.S. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bliss who has been deployed to Afghanistan three times. He told ABC News he and his wife have been \u201cdoing everything by the book.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe goes to work or to church,\u201d Serrano said. \u201cThat\u2019s the life of my wife, Daisy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But last week, Serrano said that shortly after they arrived for their appointment at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building, unidentified men detained his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the hallway, my wife was apprehended… they put handcuffs on and they took her away,\u201d Serrano told ABC News. \u201cAnd nobody told me anything, even when I was asking, \u2018Hey, what’s going on? What’s going on with her?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivera Ortega — who currently works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss — has a valid work permit through 2030 and was previously granted withholding of removal from her home country, El Salvador, according to documents reviewed by ABC News.<\/p>\n
![\"active-duty](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/75f4aba7-2576-4882-94a4-9255f4140ca5\/army_1776727646610_hpMain_4x3.jpeg?w=375 "\\"active-duty")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>The wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant with 27 years of service is facing potential deportation to a third country after being detained during a routine immigration interview last week.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Matthew Kozik<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n She is now at risk of deportation to Mexico, a country the couple has no ties to, Serrano said. He told ABC News that as an active-duty sergeant, he would likely not be able to travel to Mexico if his wife were deported.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Army, travel to Mexico is extremely restrictive,\u201d Matthew Kozik, the couple\u2019s attorney, told ABC News. \u201cHe couldn’t even just go see his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n Kozik said Rivera Ortega is currently detained at the El Paso Service Processing Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe was detained at a federal government building,\u201d Kozik said. \u201cThey wouldn’t let anybody ask any questions, and she was escorted away, and we haven’t seen her since.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to ABC News, the Department of Homeland Security said Rivera Ortega entered the country illegally and was issued a final order of removal.<\/p>\n \u201cRivera Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal,\u201d a DHS spokesperson said.<\/p>\n According to court documents, Kozik argues that Rivera Ortega was not issued a final order of removal and said that because an immigration judge granted her withholding of removal from El Salvador in 2019, she is not subject to immediate removal.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is entitled to the right to contest those third-party designations… she has a right to contest any termination,\u201d Kozik said. \u201cWe are completely in the dark, and that’s why we’ve had to go to federal court to stop this.\u201d<\/p>\n Serrano told ABC News he has been seeing a doctor for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and had been stable until his wife was detained last week.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t sleep even with the medication, I can\u2019t even read,\u201d he told ABC News. \u201cIt’s super painful and stressful to not be able to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n