ICE Detains Wife of US Army Sergeant at Louisiana Military Base After Marriage

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Annie Ramos, 22, at Fort Polk military base in Louisiana on Thursday, days after her marriage to US Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23. Blank, who has served in the Army for more than five years with prior deployments to the Middle East and Europe, was preparing for deployment training in the coming month.

The New York Times first reported the incident on Sunday. Ramos, a biochemistry student with no criminal history who teaches Sunday school, entered the US as an infant from Honduras. She was subject to a deportation order issued in absentia in 2005 after her family missed an immigration court hearing, according to the New York Times.

In 2020, Ramos applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program providing deportation protections for undocumented individuals who entered the US as children, but her application was not processed after the Trump administration stopped accepting new applicants.

The couple had hired a lawyer to pursue legal permanent residency for Ramos through their marriage, a pathway that could lead to citizenship. Blank told the New York Times: "I knew she didn’t have status. " On April 2, Blank, Ramos, and Blank's parents visited the Fort Polk visitor center with documents including Ramos's birth certificate, Honduran passport, the couple's marriage license, and Blank's military ID.

When asked about Ramos's visa or green card status, the family explained she did not have one but that paperwork for her application was prepared. An attendant made phone calls, and a supervisor arrived, followed by an officer from the base's Criminal Investigation Division who contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

Ramos was then handcuffed and placed in a military police vehicle, taken to another building, and held in an interrogation room. Three ICE agents arrived and took her into custody, transferring her to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana. Blank's parents told the New York Times that the agents stated they had no choice and were following orders from higher-ups.

>"Our plan was to drive over, bring her to the office to get her military ID and activate her military spouse benefits ... She was going to move in after the Easter weekend. " — Matthew Blank (The New York Times) When Blank's family visited Ramos days later, they were not allowed to bring documents, preventing her from signing a completed green card application.

Ramos told the New York Times: "I grew up here like any American. This is all I know. " ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Guardian or the New York Times. The incident occurs amid broader immigration enforcement efforts affecting relatives of military service members and veterans.