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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Duckworth (D-IL) announced the release of military spouse Deisy Rivera Ortega from ICE detention after the Senator personally called U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullen this week advocating on Ms. Rivera Ortega’s behalf. Duckworth’s call comes after Ms. Rivera Ortega—wife of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jose Serrano—was arrested and detained by ICE during a routine immigration check-in appointment on April 14, 2026, in El Paso, Texas. SFC Jose Serrano is an active-duty soldier who has served in the Army for over 25 years, including in Afghanistan.
“I am so incredibly grateful for Deisy’s release and for her to be reunited with her family. Deisy was doing everything “the right way:” attending her Military Parole in Place interview when she was detained by ICE with no warrant and no explanation. There is no higher betrayal to our heroes than to have one of their family members deported by the same nation they sacrificed to defend.
“I’m thankful to Secretary Mullin for heeding my personal call to release Deisy, but she—and so many others—should never have been in this situation to begin with. I will never stop working to protect our Veterans and military families. They fought for this country, we must fight for them.”
In January, Duckworth introduced thePROTECT Military Families Act, a bicameral bill that aims to protect military families from deportation and forced separation detrimental to military morale and mission readiness. Last year, as Donald Trump continued to target our brave immigrant Veterans and servicemembers in his mass deportation campaign, Duckworth reintroduced a package of bills—the Veterans Visa and Protection Act, HOPE Act and I-VETS Act—that would prohibit the deportation of immigrant Veterans who are not violent offenders, provide these Veterans with a pathway to citizenship through their military service and help ensure those who have already been deported can access the VA healthcare services they are entitled to.
