An 11-year Army soldier said he felt shocked and betrayed after ICE agents stormed into his wife's green card interview and detained her, Newsweek reported on Thursday.
Staff Sergeant Alexis Jaramillo, 43, described the disbelief after his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, 32, was ripped from his side during what he, his wife, their son and translator thought was an adjustment-of-status appointment on July 8 in Montgomery, Alabama, according to Newsweek.
Lopes Eliaser is a Brazilian national with no criminal record.
"I feel really betrayed," Jaramillo told Newsweek. "I serve this country. And I deserve some security with my family. We were very excited because we knew we were doing the right thing and complying with the government. Then two people came and told me she was going to be detained."
Lopes Eliaser overstayed her visa after entering the U.S. in 2019 and had been issued a final order of removal by a Justice department immigration judge in April, Immigration officials told Newsweek.
"Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newseek.
"She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal."
Recent Associated Press reporting shows more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained since President Donald Trump's second term began in January 2025. At least six have been deported and one self-deported.
Lopes Eliaser has been locked up at a Louisiana ICE facility, where she has been suffering sleepless nights and emotional strain, according to her husband.
Her heartbroken young son keeps asking his stepfather when his mother will return home. Jaramillo has told him she is at a hotel and will come back when her paperwork is completed.
"I feel no one cares about it," Jaramillo said. "So that's why I'm doing this. Because I'm going to try all the way I can so I can release her from there."
