ICE Detains Undocumented Wife of Army Sergeant at Fort Polk

Fort Polk, Louisiana – Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Annie Ramos, the 22-year-old wife of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank, last week as the couple attempted to secure her military identification and benefits at the Fort Polk military base.

Ramos, a Honduran national brought to the United States as a toddler, has lived in the country her entire life and has no criminal record. She and Blank, 23, who enlisted in the Army more than five years ago, married in late March in Houston, Texas, after meeting on a dating app the previous year and becoming engaged on New Year's Day. Blank is assigned to a brigade at the base preparing for deployment training at the end of the month. The couple had hired an immigration attorney before their wedding to begin the process of adjusting Ramos's status through marriage, which typically allows undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency and eventual citizenship, even with prior deportation orders.

On Thursday, April 3, the couple arrived early for a 2 p.m. appointment at the base's visitor center, accompanied by Blank's parents. They presented Ramos's Honduran passport, birth certificate,...