U.S. Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez is a husband, a father and a soldier but right now, he said his most difficult mission is trying to explain to his 6-year-old daughter why her mother may not be coming home.

“I would just love to tell her that everything is going to be OK, that our family is going stay together, but that’s something that I can’t tell her right now,” he said.

On July 11, Turcios said he, his wife, Cristy Villafranca, and their daughter were leaving a Walmart parking lot in El Paso, Texas, and heading back to the Fort Bliss Army base when they were stopped and surrounded by federal officers in unmarked vehicles.

Turcios said officers took Villafranca from the vehicle while their daughter watched.

“We have my daughter in the back seat. We didn’t want her to get more scared of any trauma of what was happening, so we tried to do everything … as quick as possible, not to escalate the situation,” he said. “It was probably the worst thing that ever happened to me, because even though I was deployed overseas for nine months, this is not compared to that time.”

Turcios’ story is not novel amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security under Trump has detained more than 50 spouses and parents of active duty U.S. military service members, according to an Associated Press report, and congressional Democrats in September revealed that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had detained and tried to deport 282 veterans and their relatives.

This week, more than 60 Democratic lawmakers sent an open letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urging the agencies to consider “military service as a significant mitigating factor in immigration proceedings” and avoid the mounting enforcement crisis facing military families.

“Donald Trump is breaking our country’s promises to service members by tearing apart dozens of military families who were promised immigration protections,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a statement emailed to MS NOW. “That’s just plain cruel, and it’s hurting our military readiness and morale. I won’t stop pushing back until the Trump administration is held accountable.”

A family separated

DHS alleged that Villafranca traveled from Honduras and illegally entered the United States in 2016. She “received full due process” but was ultimately issued a final removal order in 2017 after failing to appear at an immigration hearing, the agency said.

Villafranca’s family has disputed that account.

They said she entered the U.S. in 2016 and was released with an ankle monitor under temporary government supervision. She was later told she would receive a notice to appear in immigration court but never received the letter, Turcios said.

“We just want to keep following the law,” he said.

Villafranca is being held at Camp East Montana in El Paso, according to Turcios.

He said the family appealed her case and that the appeal was denied, meaning she could now be deported to Honduras. Turcios said he fears for his wife’s safety if she is sent back due to violent crime in the country. While MS NOW was working on this story, Turcios called to say that two members of his family had been shot in Honduras, including one who was killed in their village. The Honduran Consulate didn’t immediately return a request for comment from MS NOW.

Military service as an immigration pathway

There are, in fact, some special immigration provisions for certain members of the U.S. military and their families.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, qualifying spouses, children and parents of current or former military members may be eligible for Parole in Place, an expedited pathway to U.S. citizenship that is granted on a discretionary, case-by-case basis. 

Asked about Villafranca’s case, DHS sent a statement, reading in part:

“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws. Military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement.”

DHS treatment of military families has caught the attention of ranking Democrats, including Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who released a statement condemning the arrests.

“I am disgusted that the Trump Administration is ripping military families apart,” he said. “Instead of targeting the ‘worst of the worst,’ they are dragging the spouses and parents of active-duty service members into immigration detention while demanding those same troops risk their lives for this country. That is a disgraceful betrayal of the patriots who wear the uniform of the United States, and every American should be outraged.”

The Congressional Research Service reported that, as of February 2024, more than 40,000 foreign nationals were serving in the active and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Military readiness

Repatriate Our Patriots, an organization advocating for noncitizen military service members, veterans and their families, has taken on Villafranca’s case.

Organization officials argued that cases like hers raise a question beyond immigration enforcement: whether separating military families can affect morale, retention, recruitment and ultimately military readiness.

“These are servicemembers who are being asked to remain mission-ready while simultaneously fighting to keep their spouses and parents safe and their families together,” Danitza Garcia James, CEO of Repatriate Our Patriots, said in an interview with MS NOW. “What we are witnessing is no longer simply an immigration issue, it is becoming a military readiness issue.”

The Congressional Research Service has also identified military readiness as part of the broader debate surrounding immigration enforcement involving military families.

Its report on foreign nationals in the U.S. Armed Forces warns that the  removal of service members’ immediate relatives could pose a threat to military readiness.

Turcios said he joined the Army because he loves the country and the opportunities it gave him.

“I was doing it because I love this country. I love what I do,” he said.

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From MS Now.