U.S. Army Veteran Demands ICE Release His Wife Facing Deportation
Retired Staff Sgt. Wilmer Trujillo, a U.S. Army and Texas National Guard veteran with nearly 20 years of service, is in a desperate fight as his wife, Arelys Barahona-Martinez, faces deportation back to Honduras. She was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a routine check-in at an agency office in Dallas.
Trujillo, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring in 2021, expressed his anguish over the situation. He stated that his heart shattered upon learning of his wife's detention and impending deportation.
Trujillo enlisted in the military shortly after high school in the late 1990s, dedicating four years to the Army and another 16 years to the Texas National Guard. His military career culminated in a retirement that should have brought peace, but instead, he now faces a family crisis.
"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."
Trujillo and Barahona-Martinez married in 2020 and reside in Princeton, Texas, alongside Trujillo's daughters from a previous marriage and Barahona-Martinez's son, a U.S. citizen suffering from neurofibromatosis, which has caused tumors to develop.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Barahona-Martinez was arrested on June 10 due to her illegal entry into the U.S., citing a deportation order dating back over 20 years.
"Barahona-Martinez received full due process and was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge on November 2, 2005," DHS stated. "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 at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma, according to ICE's online detainee tracker.
Mark Shmueli, Barahona-Martinez's immigration attorney, noted that she has no criminal record. She initially crossed the southern border illegally in 2005, had her son in the U.S., then returned to Honduras with him in 2006.
Shmueli confirmed that Barahona-Martinez was ordered deported "in absentia" due to her absence from a hearing she was unaware of.
Barahona-Martinez made a second illegal crossing into the U.S. in 2018, driven by desperation for her son’s medical needs and threats from gang members in Honduras trying to recruit him.
"This is the whole reason she's here. To save her son," Trujillo said.
This incident marks another case of ICE detaining a spouse of a U.S. service member or veteran, a trend that has escalated under the second Trump administration as previous restrictions on ICE arrests have been lifted.
Some military spouses have been released from ICE custody after their cases gained media attention and congressional intervention, such as Deisy Rivera-Ortega, who was detained by ICE in April but released last month while her deportation case remains active.
Shmueli believes Barahona-Martinez deserves similar treatment due to her clean record, her marriage to a retired staff sergeant, and her American son's medical condition. He pointed out that she has a potential path to obtaining a green card through their marriage.
However, for her to be eligible for a green card, her deportation case must be reopened in immigration court to nullify the removal order. Shmueli mentioned that they have a pending request to reopen her case and plan to file for Parole-in-Place, which protects certain military spouses or parents from deportation.
Trujillo criticized ICE for treating his wife like a hardened criminal and urged them to allow her to continue her immigration case outside of detention.
"My message to ICE is: I'm not asking for favors. I know a lot of military members are going through this. I am just asking [ICE] to let my wife go," he said. "Don't break this family apart."
