An AP investigation found that President Trump's administration has detained at least 51 parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. military service members since taking office, with at least six deported and eight remaining in federal immigration custody. Military experts warn that detaining troops' family members undermines military preparedness by forcing service members to take leave from deployments to care for children and family members. The Trump administration reversed its own 2016-2019 policy under which immigration authorities rarely detained service members' immediate family members unless they had committed violent crimes, implementing a new April 2025 policy stating that military service does not exempt people from immigration law consequences.