Blank’s wife’s detention and possible deportation has become a flashpoint for military family advocates, who argue that enforcement actions aimed at spouses can undercut morale and complicate planning for soldiers during a war period. The Associated Press reported that Annie Ramos, born in Honduras, was detained inside a Louisiana military base where the couple had expected to begin life together just days after their March wedding.
According to the report, U.S. Army staff sergeant Matthew Blank said he brought Ramos to Fort Polk last Thursday so she could begin the process for military benefits and take steps toward a green card. Blank said Ramos remained in federal immigration detention as of Monday, after federal immigration agents detained her on the base.
Blank said he never expected the attempt to follow the process for her immigration status to lead to her being taken away. In a statement to The Associated Press, he said, “I never imagined that trying to do the right thing would lead to her being taken away from me,” adding, “What was supposed to be the happiest week of our lives has turned into one of the hardest.”
The report said Ramos’ detention was first reported by The New York Times. It also said Ramos entered the United States in 2005, when she was younger than 2 years old, and that in 2005 her family failed to appear for an immigration hearing, leading a judge to issue a final order of removal, according to DHS.
Ramos’ case has also centered on claims about how DHS handled immigration enforcement for the families of military members. The Associated Press reported that DHS said Ramos has “no legal status to be in this country,” and that “This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law,” in an emailed statement to the outlet.
The report said Ramos applied in 2020 for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, and that Blank said her application has remained “in limbo” amid legal fights to end the Obama-era program. It also cited changes DHS made under the Trump administration: last April, DHS eliminated a 2022 policy that considered military service by an immediate family member a “significant mitigating factor” in pursuing enforcement, replacing it with a policy statement that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
Margaret Stock, a military immigration law expert quoted by the AP, said Ramos’ case would have been easy to resolve in the past but that DHS now appears to detain military families when opportunities arise, including when they are trying to apply for legal status. Stock said, “It doesn’t make any sense — they’re going to get arrested for following the law? That’s stupid,” and warned that it is “bad for morale, it disrupts the soldiers’ readiness.”
The Associated Press also reported that more than 60 members of Congress wrote to DHS and the U.S. Department of Defense in September, warning that arrests of military personnel and veteran’s family members “betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security.” The report said the Pentagon declined to comment.
An advocacy group leader, Lydiah Owiti-Otienoh, who runs the Foreign-Born Military Spouse Network, said she has seen an increase in cases where military families’ lives have been upended by tightening immigration restrictions. She said federal action is undermining U.S. interests by attempting to deport military spouses, adding, “It just sends a really bad message — we don’t care about you, about your spouses, anything you are doing,” and “If military families are not stable, national security is not stable.”
Blank’s mother, Jen Rickling, told the AP in a statement that Ramos, a Sunday school teacher and biochemistry major, had been everything she hoped for. Rickling said, “We absolutely adore her,” and added, “I believe in this country. And I believe we can do better than this — for Annie, for other military families, and for the values we hold dear.”
Blank said he has been eager to build a life with Ramos on the base. He said, “I want my wife home,” and added, “And I will not stop fighting until she is back where she belongs, by my side.”