Veteran says ‘It rips my heart apart’ as wife faces possible deportation by ICE
DALLAS, TEXAS: A US citizen and a retired Army personnel member has urged the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release his wife after she was taken into custody on Wednesday during a check-in appointment at an agency office in Dallas.
Retired Staff Sgt Wilmer Trujillo, who served in the US Army and the Texas National Guard for roughly 20 years, is desperately urging federal immigration officials to release his wife, who is facing deportation to her native Honduras.
Wife’s deportation broke Trujillo’s heart
In an interview with CBS on Friday, June 12, Trujillo said that his "heart broke" when he was told his wife would be "detained and deported."
Trujillo elaborated on his career, revealing that he joined the army right after high school in the late 1990s.
He served in the Army for approximately four years and the Texas National Guard for another 16 years, and he was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired in 2021.
"I don't want to hate on ICE. I don't want to hate on anybody, but yeah, it boggles me. It rips my heart apart," Trujillo said.
"I love this country, and for this country to rip apart my family and take away my wife; she's my rock and she is my backbone to this family.”
DHS cites a 20-year-old deportation order
In a statement to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE detained Barahona-Martinez on June 10, arguing that she was in the country illegally.
The agency also pointed to a deportation order issued more than two decades ago.
"Barahona-Martinez received full due process and was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge on November 2, 2005," DHS added.
"The Trump administration is not going to ignore the rule of law. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the U.S."
As of Friday, Barahona-Martinez was being held by ICE at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma, according to the agency's online detainee tracker.
Trujillo and Barahona-Martinez married in 2020, legal documents show.
The couple lives in Princeton, Texas, with Trujillo's daughters from a prior marriage and Barahona-Martinez's 20-year-old son, a US citizen.
Barahona-Martinez’s immigration lawyer said his client does not have a criminal record.
He said she first crossed the southern border illegally in 2005 to enter the US, where she had her son before going back to Honduras with him in 2006.
