A U.S. Army staff sergeant is fighting to stop his wife’s deportation after she was detained by federal immigration agents inside a Louisiana military base just days after their wedding.
According to the Associated Press, 23-year-old Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank brought his wife, 22-year-old Annie Ramos, to Fort Polk last week so she could begin processing military benefits and apply for a green card.
Ramos reportedly entered the United States in 2005, when she was under 2 years old. That same year, her family allegedly failed to appear at an immigration hearing. The Department of Homeland Security later stated that a judge issued a final order of removal, declaring, “She has no legal status to be in this country.”
DACA Application Left in Limbo
Ramos applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2020. However, her application has reportedly not been reviewed due to ongoing legal challenges to end the program.
Blank told the outlet that he believed bringing his wife onto the base to properly begin immigration paperwork was the right step.
“I never imagined that trying to do the right thing would lead to her being taken away from me,” Blank said. “What was supposed to be the happiest week of our lives has turned into one of the hardest.”
Policy Shift Impacts Military Families
In 2022, federal policy allowed military service by an immediate family member to be considered as a factor when deciding whether to pursue immigration enforcement.
That policy has since been removed.
The Department of Homeland Security has stated that the current policy does not exempt individuals with prior violations from enforcement actions.