Wife of U.S. Soldier Released After Five Days in ICE Detention, Must Wear Ankle Monitor, Still Faces Deportation

What was supposed to be a time of love and happiness for a newlywed couple from Texas has instead turned into one marked by suffering and tears after the wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant was detained by immigration authorities.

Annie Ramos, a 22-year-old Honduran national who came to the U.S. as a toddler, was arrested on April 2 by immigration agents at the military base where her now-husband, Sgt. Matthew Blank, was stationed.

After spending five days in immigration detention, Ramos has been released, but The New York Times reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement required her to wear an ankle monitor and check in with ICE weekly as an alternative to confinement.

Additionally, according to the House Homeland Democrats on social media, Ramos still faces deportation proceedings.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told The Associated Press Ramos had been released with a GPS monitor "while she undergoes further removal proceedings," adding that "she will receive full due process."

Although now free, the couple say the experience was one of the hardest of their lives.

"What was supposed to be the happiest week of our lives has turned into one of the hardest," Blank said in an interview with the BBC. "I never imagined that trying to do the right thing would lead to her being taken away from me."

The couple had traveled from Houston to Louisiana to obtain a military ID for Ramos and activate her military spouse benefits and had planned to move onto the base together during Easter weekend.

But those plans fell apart during an appointment at the base, when immigration authorities detained Ramos after she acknowledged she did not yet have a visa or green card.

Officials said Ramos entered the U.S. illegally in 2005 and was issued a final removal order after failing to appear at an immigration hearing. She was about 22 months old at the time.

Ramos, who has no criminal record and is months away from completing a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, was held for five days at a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana. After her release, her husband said he feels "relieved" and that they can finally begin building a life together.

"I can't wait to carry my wife into our home and start our lives together," Blank said, adding that he is ready to continue serving his country.

For her part, Ramos said she is now focused on securing her legal status and building a life with her husband.

"All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby," she said in a statement. "I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community — just as my husband serves our country with honor."

According to legal experts, the Trump administration has moved away from past practices of leniency toward the families of service members in immigration cases. For Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney and former Army Reserve officer, Ramos' arrest should not have happened.

"Prior to the Trump administration creating a mass deportation policy, somebody like her would not have been detained," Stock said.

Others, including leaders of faith-based organizations, said the case underscores growing concerns about how enforcement actions are being carried out. "Seems neighborhoods need to organize for tactical peaceful counter response to such thugs," Reverend Miguel Rivera of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders posted on X.