The US administration led by President Donald Trump has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty American service members as part of its expanded immigration crackdown, reversing decades of bipartisan practice that generally shielded military families from deportation, according to an Associated Press (AP) investigation.The analysis found that at least 51 parents and spouses of active-duty US military personnel have been detained since Trump returned to office for a second term, while at least six have already been deported.At least eight immediate family members remain in federal immigration custody, according to the investigation.The news agency noted that the actual number is likely higher as the US government does not officially track such cases.
Military families caught in immigration crackdown
For decades, immediate family members of active-duty service personnel were generally protected from deportation under a bipartisan consensus.However, the AP investigation found that many are now being detained for months while attempting to adjust their immigration status through legal pathways available to military families.According to the report, several relatives were detained during routine appointments with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where they were pursuing legal status under existing immigration provisions.The department of homeland security (DHS), however, defended its approach.“DHS and ICE value the contributions of all those who have served in the US military. US military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating US immigration laws,” the department said in a statement quoted by AP.The Pentagon declined to comment on the findings.
Policy shift from previous administrations
The crackdown follows a policy introduced in April 2025, which states that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating US immigration laws.”Immigration law experts quoted by AP said that the policy marks a significant departure even from Trump’s first term.Dan Gividen, who served as deputy chief counsel at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between 2016 and 2019 under the first Trump administration, said immigration authorities rarely pursued removal proceedings against service members’ immediate relatives unless they had committed serious violent crimes.“We would not place them into removal proceedings, period. That’s insane. The fact that they’re doing it now is just outrageous,” Gividen said.Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney and retired US Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, said previous administrations generally allowed military families to regularise their immigration status to ensure service members remained focused on their duties.“If soldiers are preoccupied with detained or deported family, they’re not concentrating on their job anymore,” she said.“It’s the same thing that happens if you don’t provide healthcare to the troops, or you don’t provide housing to the troops,” Stock said, arguing that family stability is a key part of military readiness.
Families say detentions affect military readiness
The investigation documented several cases where active-duty personnel had to interrupt military duties because of family detentions.Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo said he had to take administrative leave to care for his five-year-old stepson after his Brazilian wife was detained during what the family believed was a routine immigration appointment.“It is really overwhelming because I need to take care of my kid by myself. No one is here to help me out,” he said.The report also cited court records showing that at least one active-duty soldier postponed an overseas deployment after immigration authorities detained her husband, leaving no one to care for their young son.Air Force Tech. Sgt. Wendy Gbeve said her father was detained during an immigration interview and deported to Mexico roughly two weeks later.“It’s the most frustrating, helpless feeling,” she saidGbeve said her mother, a legal permanent resident, is now considering returning to Mexico to be with her deported husband, leaving nobody to care for her two young children if both she and her husband, who also serves in the Air Force, are deployed. “That would be our entire safety net,” she said.Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, whose wife was detained outside a Walmart in front of their six-year-old daughter in July, said the uncertainty had made it difficult to focus on his duties.“How can I even focus on my military career because I have to worry about how my wife is doing?” he saidExperts interviewed by AP warned that such actions could undermine military preparedness by removing childcare providers and emotional support systems relied upon by deployed personnel.
Immigration benefits still used for recruitment
The investigation also highlighted what critics describe as a contradiction in US military recruitment.The military continues to advertise immigration benefits, including the “military parole-in-place” programme, to attract recruits.The programme, introduced during President George W Bush’s administration in 2007 and later codified under President Barack Obama, allows eligible spouses, children and parents of service members to apply for legal immigration status from within the United States.However, several cases have involved applicants who were detained despite seeking protection through the same programme.Former Marine Cpl. Jose Manuel Vilchis-Valle said recruiters had encouraged him to enlist by telling him his service could help protect his parents’ immigration status.But his mother was detained during an immigration appointment and deported to Mexico within a week.“They basically told me that if you serve, and if you served honourably, you can help your parents,” he said.“In a perfect world, I wished, because of my service, they could have pardoned her.”Although the Marine Corps stopped promoting enlistment as a way to protect immigrant family members in June 2025 following AP’s inquiries, Army and National Guard recruiters continue to advertise such benefits, the report said.
Government says violations still apply
DHS said it reviewed several of the cases highlighted by the news agency and noted that some individuals had prior removal orders, previous deportations or criminal convictions, including offences related to drunken driving or drugs.The department maintained that immigration laws apply regardless of military family connections.Army specialist Romero Ralios, whose father was detained this summer after nearly two decades in the United States, said the experience left him questioning his own role in supporting border enforcement during a previous military deployment.“It was karma. I should’ve known,” he said. “All those families I broke. I have regrets.”The investigation was based on thousands of federal court records compiled by the Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative’s Habeas Dockets project, existing media reports and verification with attorneys and affected families.The agency said its findings represent the first known accounting of detentions involving immediate family members of active-duty US service personnel.
