Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant at the military base where he is stationed just days after the couple married, an attorney representing the family told ABC News.
On April 2, Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23, and his wife Annie Ramos, 22, were joined by relatives at Fort Polk, Louisiana, who were there to help register Ramos as a military spouse and get her moved in, Blank’s mother Jen Rickling told ABC News. But soon, ICE agents entered the facility and detained Ramos.
“I never imagined that trying to do the right thing — registering my wife so she could receive her military ID, access the benefits she is entitled to as my spouse, and begin the process toward her green card — would lead to her being taken away from me,” Sgt. Blank said in a statement. “Instead of preparing for our future together, I am now fighting for her freedom.”
Attorney Jessie Schreier says Ramos, who was born in Honduras, was 20 months old when she was issued an order of removal.
Typically, undocumented immigrants are eligible for a Green Card. Relatives of military service members may also be eligible for additional forms of relief.
Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23, and his wife Annie Ramos, 22.
Courtesy family of Matthew Blank
“Annie Ramos is currently detained for enforcement of a removal order issued in 2005, when she was just 20 months old. At any moment, that order may be executed, resulting in her deportation to a country she has never known. Annie’s deportation would tragically separate her from her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank, who is preparing for the possibility of his third overseas deployment,” Schreier said.
Ramos is eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and applied, but the program remains halted for new applicants after a yearlong battle in court that challenges the program. Ramos received a scholarship from TheDream.US, which helps undocumented youth pay for school.
Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23, and his wife Annie Ramos, 22.
Courtesy family of Matthew Blank
“Detaining a 22-year-old biochemistry student who has lived here for two decades and is married to a U.S. Army staff sergeant preparing for deployment doesn’t make us safer – it weakens a military family, undermines our basic values, and exposes how far we’ve fallen as a nation. Annie Ramos should be released from detention and returned to her family. And our country and our President should use this moment as a wake-up call,” Gaby Pacheco, president and CEO of TheDream.US, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Ramos was arrested “after she attempted to enter a military base.”
“She has no legal status to be in this country and was issued a final order of removal by a judge. This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law. She illegally crossed the southern border and entered the U.S. in February 2005. After she failed to show up for her immigration hearing, she was issued a final order of removal by a judge on April 7, 2005,” the DHS spokesperson said.
Sergeant Matthew Blank, 23, and his wife Annie Ramos, 22.
Courtesy family of Matthew Blank
Rickling said Ramos “is everything you would hope for in a daughter-in-law.”
“She is kind, smart, and dedicated: she teaches Sunday school, she’s finishing her degree, and she loves my son with her whole heart. We absolutely adore her,” Rickling said.
“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. My son and my daughter-in-law should be able to build their lives together here, in a nation that my son is so committed to serving,” Rickling added.
Ramos is currently detained at an ICE facility in Basile, Louisiana, a government database shows.
Blank said he’ll continue to fight for his wife’s release.
“I am proud to serve this country. I am proud to be her husband. And I will stand by her, no matter what it takes,” he said.