Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, acting under the command of the Trump administration, have reportedly detained Annie Ramos, the wife of a US army staff sergeant, at his military base in Louisiana. This arrest occurred just days after her marriage to 23-year-old Matthew Blank, a soldier with over five years of service who has previously deployed to the Middle East and Europe, and as he was preparing for a new deployment.

Annie Ramos, 22, is a biochemistry student with no criminal history and also teaches Sunday school. Her legal vulnerability stems from a deportation order issued in absentia in 2005 when she was an infant, after her family missed an immigration court hearing. Despite this, Ramos and Blank had already hired a lawyer to begin the process of obtaining legal permanent residency through marriage, a recognized pathway for undocumented immigrants to eventually apply for citizenship. Blank stated, "I knew she didn't have status," but emphasized, "We were doing everything the right way."

In 2020, Ramos had applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a federal program offering deportation protections to undocumented people who entered the US as children. However, her application was never processed because the administration during Donald Trump's first presidency had stopped accepting new applicants.

The arrest unfolded last Thursday at Louisiana's Fort Polk, where Blank is stationed and was due to start deployment training. Their initial plan was to visit the base to secure her military ID and activate her military spouse benefits, with Ramos set to move in after the Easter weekend. Blank recounted the events, stating, "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. Instead, she got ripped away from me."

On April 2, Blank and Ramos, accompanied by his parents, went to the Fort Polk visitor center. They presented her birth certificate, Honduran passport, their marriage license, and Blank's military ID. When asked if Ramos possessed a visa or green card indicating legal permanent resident status, the family explained she did not, but added that their lawyer had already prepared the necessary paperwork for her application. An attendant responded with "We'll figure it out" before making several phone calls. Soon after, a supervisor arrived, followed by an officer from the base's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) who announced he would contact ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ramos was then handcuffed and placed inside a military police vehicle, which transported her to another building where she was held in what Blank's family described as an "interrogation room." Three ICE agents later arrived. Blank's parents reported that the agents seemed apologetic, stating they "didn't have a choice" and that "the higher-ups made them do it." Ramos was subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana. When Blank's family visited days later, they were not permitted to bring in any documents, preventing her from signing a completed green card application.

This incident is one of several that contradict Trump's initial claims that his ongoing immigration crackdown would prioritize deporting dangerous criminals. The campaign to increase deportation numbers has increasingly affected relatives of military service members and even veterans themselves, often without consideration for their records of having defended the US. Ramos expressed her deep connection to the country, stating, "I grew up here like any American. This is all I know. My husband and family are here." ICE did not immediately respond to The Guardian's request for comment regarding the incident.