Wife of US soldier is removed from deportation flight and released from federal immigration custody

A U.S. soldier’s wife who spent more than a month in federal immigration detention said she is back home after officers removed her from a deportation flight to Brazil.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press highlighted Maisa Lopes Eliaser as one of who had been detained after President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration rolled back protections for military families amid its push for mass deportations. Following the AP鈥檚 reporting, a group of Congressional Democrats into deportations of military service members and their families.

Eliaser was placed on a deportation flight Wednesday to her native Brazil when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on the plane received a phone call about her midflight, she told the AP. She said she was then asked by an ICE officer whether she wanted to continue on to Brazil or go back to the U.S.

鈥淲ho made the call? We don鈥檛 know,鈥� said Eliaser鈥檚 husband, Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo. 鈥淏ut someone made the phone call, and then she came back.鈥�

While other detainees were led off the plane in Brazil, Eliaser stayed on board and returned to Louisiana. ICE officers told her that she was 鈥渇amous鈥� because there were videos about her case, she said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy officer, directly contacted the ICE field office involved in Eliaser鈥檚 detention, according to his spokesperson. He has also spoken out on behalf of two other detained military family members in the past year.

In a statement to the AP, Kelly said the policy of detaining military family members is 鈥渨rong and makes no sense at all.鈥�

鈥淲e need real solutions to fix our broken immigration system,鈥� Kelly wrote in a statement. 鈥淕oing after military families instead of real criminals doesn鈥檛 solve anything.鈥�

DHS previously told AP that Eliaser, 32, had been issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on April 15, after overstaying the tourist visa she used to enter the U.S. in 2019.

Jaramillo, a 43-year-old aviation operations specialist who has served in the Army for more than a decade, took leave of his duties training soldiers in Fort Polk, Louisiana, to care for Eliaser’s 5-year-old son after she was detained on July 8.

鈥淭his family鈥檚 reunion is proof of what鈥檚 possible when people set politics aside and do right by those who serve,鈥� Danitza James, who heads Repatriate Our Patriots, a nonprofit that supports military families facing deportation and helped with Eliaser鈥檚 case, said at a news conference. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 stop until every military family facing detention gets the same chance at justice.鈥�

Eliaser, who was detained in July while at an immigration appointment, has another appointment scheduled for Monday in an effort to reopen her case and advance her green card application. Jaramillo is a U.S. citizen and the couple have been married since 2024.

Jaramillo said he has been told that there will be no further issues with Eliaser鈥檚 case, but the couple is still concerned.

鈥淲e are really, really, really scared about it, but you know, we have to go,鈥� Jaramillo said. 鈥淚 told the person who gave me the appointment, 鈥楬ey sir, don鈥檛 play with me, I鈥檝e been through a lot.鈥欌€�

Eliaser said she is still struggling to sleep and is afraid she will be sent back to the detention facility, where she said she was treated like 鈥渁n animal.鈥�

鈥淚t felt like I was in a nightmare,鈥� Eliaser said. 鈥淚 could not believe what was happening until I returned to my house. Day by day, I鈥檓 trying to recover from this trauma.鈥�

There have been similar interventions in other high-profile cases over the past year. by immigration authorities as her husband, an Army staff sergeant, was preparing to deploy. She was released after a public outcry. Around the same time, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and combat veteran, told the AP that she personally contacted DHS to call for the release of Deisy Rivera Ortega, the immigrant wife of an Army sergeant who did three tours in Afghanistan, after learning about from advocacy groups. She was eventually .

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse 太子探花 Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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