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Army veteran's wife detained at ICE check-in, faces deportation despite military family status

Jun 11, 2026 · Dallas, TX, Honduras

Army veteran's wife detained at ICE check-in, faces deportation despite military family status

Arelys Barahona-Martinez, a 40-year-old Honduran national, was detained by ICE on June 10, 2026, during a routine scheduled check-in appointment at an ICE office in Dallas, where she had been checking in without incident for years. She was transferred to a detention facility in Oklahoma and faces deportation based on a removal order issued in 2005 following unauthorized entries to the U.S. Barahona-Martinez is married to retired Staff Sergeant Wilmer Trujillo, a 20-year U.S. Army and Texas National Guard veteran with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The couple shares a household that includes Trujillo's daughters and Barahona-Martinez's 20-year-old son, a U.S. citizen with neurofibromatosis. Her attorney argues she is eligible for permanent residency through her marriage to a U.S. citizen and may qualify for a parole-in-place program designed to protect military families, though her application was rejected by USCIS in November 2024. Trujillo is fighting to prevent her deportation.

Timeline

Jun 11, 2026Attorney files motion to block deportation; argues Barahona-Martinez is eligible for green card through marriage to U.S. citizen
Jun 10, 2026Arelys Barahona-Martinez detained by ICE during routine scheduled check-in appointment in Dallas and transferred to detention facility in Oklahoma
Nov 2024USCIS rejects Barahona-Martinez's parole-in-place application
2018Barahona-Martinez granted supervised release after second unauthorized crossing; re-enters U.S. due to son's medical needs
2005Deportation order issued against Arelys Barahona-Martinez following unauthorized entry to the U.S.

Sources

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