An active-duty U.S. Army sergeant’s wife was deported to Honduras on Monday, according to her family and the Department of Homeland Security. Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo represents at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty military service member to face deportation since the Trump administration rolled back protections for military families. The Associated Press has documented more than 50 cases in which immediate family members of U.S. troops were placed in federal immigration detention following these policy changes, though DHS has released some military spouses following media coverage and congressional advocacy.
Villafranca-Trejo was detained July 11 outside a Walmart near Fort Bliss, Texas, where her husband, Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, is stationed. Her detention has created significant strain on the sergeant’s ability to manage both his military responsibilities and childcare for their 6-year-old daughter. Turcios Juarez reported that he has had to adjust his work schedule to handle school drop-offs and has postponed a planned assignment at another base. He expressed uncertainty about his ability to continue his military career while managing family obligations alone.
DHS stated that Villafranca-Trejo “received due process” in her case. According to the agency, she was issued a final removal order by an immigration judge in 2017 after failing to appear at a hearing. Villafranca-Trejo entered the United States in 2016 at age 18 and married Turcios Juarez in 2022, at which point they discovered the outstanding deportation order. She had filed a motion to reopen her case, which was denied in May, and had been awaiting a decision on a military parole-in-place application for approximately one year.
Dan Gividen, who served as ICE deputy chief counsel from 2016 to 2019 under Trump’s first administration, stated that prior practice would have been to allow military family members to adjust their legal status despite final removal orders. Congressional representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat representing El Paso, opened an inquiry into the case and visited Villafranca-Trejo at a detention facility. Escobar characterized the situation as one in which military families “are being targeted instead of supported.”
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