US Army sergeant’s wife Faces deportation after ‘release’ promise, attorney says
deportation Mexico – An attorney says Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was told she’d be released from ICE detention, then faced deportation to Mexico. DHS cites prior convictions and an order of removal.
An active-duty Army sergeant’s wife is fighting an immigration case after her attorney said she was told she would be released from detention—only to be told she would be deported to Mexico instead.
Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was taken into custody April 14 in El Paso while attending what her lawyer described as a routine interview tied to a “Parole in Place” application. a federal program that can allow certain undocumented family members of U.S.. military personnel to remain in the country legally.. The attorney. Matthew Kozik. said his client was informed on Wednesday that she would be released after more than a week in custody.
Kozik said Rivera Ortega was elated when she was instructed to gather her belongings because officials told her she was going to be released.. But he added that after his team contacted officials within the Department of Homeland Security to confirm the details. they were told her release would not occur.. Instead, her lawyer said she was informed her removal would be directed to Mexico.
DHS did not directly address the claim that officials promised a release and then changed course.. In a written response. the agency said ICE arrested Rivera Ortega on April 14 and described her as a “criminal illegal alien” from El Salvador.. The statement said she had been previously convicted for illegal entry, that she entered the U.S.. in 2016 near the Rio Grande Valley, and that she had been released on bond.. DHS added that an immigration judge issued a final order of removal on Dec.. 12, 2019, and that Rivera Ortega remains in ICE custody pending removal.
The case has also turned on procedural rights in immigration court.. Kozik said he believes Rivera Ortega is entitled to a credible fear interview. a screening process used for people who express fear of deportation to certain countries.. He also said his legal team filed a habeas petition last week, asking a judge to order her release.
Rivera Ortega. who works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss. has a work permit through 2030. according to documents reviewed in the case.. DHS’s statement says work authorization does not itself create lawful status.. The agency also pointed to prior legal determinations. including withholding of removal from El Salvador granted in connection with her status.
Behind the legal dispute is a family caught in the churn of federal enforcement.. Rivera Ortega is married to Sgt.. 1st Class Jose Serrano, an active-duty U.S.. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bliss who has been deployed to Afghanistan three times.. Serrano told Misryoum earlier this week that he and his wife have tried to follow the rules—“she goes to work or to church. ” he said—until her detention last week disrupted that routine.
Serrano also described personal strain as the case unfolded.. He said he has been seeing a doctor for post-traumatic stress disorder and that he had been stable before his wife’s detention. but now cannot sleep even with medication and struggles to read or focus.. For many military families. immigration enforcement doesn’t arrive as an abstract policy debate; it lands on spouses juggling employment. church schedules. and the constant anxiety of uncertainty.
The “Parole in Place” question matters because it sits at the intersection of immigration enforcement and national security narratives.. Supporters of programs like it argue that families of service members should be treated differently. given their integration and the role they play in military life.. Critics counter that immigration outcomes still rely on court orders and past violations. and that discretion does not erase due process requirements or removeability findings.. Misryoum will be watching closely how officials handle the timeline between an interview process and the consequences of an existing removal order.
Kozik said he is preparing additional legal steps. including filing a writ of mandamus with the 5th Circuit. seeking an order compelling the court to act.. The effort underscores how immigration cases can hinge not just on a person’s circumstances. but on how quickly and effectively courts address emergency requests.. For Rivera Ortega. the next days could determine whether she receives further review through the channels her attorney says she is owed—or whether removal proceedings move forward.
For the broader public. the situation raises a familiar tension in American immigration enforcement: what happens when a person hears conflicting signals while in detention.. Whether the promise of release was communicated correctly. whether it conflicted with an existing legal order. and how procedures like credible fear screenings are handled can shape outcomes in ways that are felt intensely by families with few levers to pull.