Retired Staff Sgt. Wilmer Trujillo is currently navigating a situation where his wife, 40-year-old Arelys Barahona-Martinez, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday. She was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a standard, routine check-in appointment at an agency office in Dallas. Trujillo, who served in the U.S. Army and the Texas National Guard for nearly 20 years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, described the moment as he had accompanied his wife to the appointment. “To us, it was as a regular check-up day, we were always doing everything by the book,” Trujillo told the BBC. “We thought everything was fine, until an officer came out and said, ‘Your wife is not leaving today.'” The veteran, who retired in 2021, was left waiting in the parking lot, unable to see his wife as she was processed for detention. In an interview with CBS News, Trujillo said, “I don’t want to hate on ICE. I don’t want to hate on anybody, but yeah, it boggles me. It rips my heart apart,” he said. “I love this country, and for this country to rip apart my family and take away my wife; she’s my rock and she is my backbone to this family.” Barahona-Martinez is the latest military spouse to be detained Per CBS, the couple, who reside in Princeton, Texas, have been married since 2020. Their household includes Trujillo’s daughters from a previous marriage and Barahona-Martinez’s 20-year-old son. The young man is a U.S. citizen who suffers from neurofibromatosis, a condition that has caused the growth of tumors, including in his nose. The Department of Homeland Security provided a statement to CBS News regarding the arrest, stating that she had entered the country illegally. “Barahona-Martinez received full due process and was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge on November 2, 2005,” the department stated. “The Trump administration is not going to ignore the rule of law. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the U.S.” An American citizen who served in the U.S. Army and the Texas National Guard for roughly 20 years is desperately urging federal immigration officials to release his wife, who is facing deportation to her native Honduras."I love this country, and for this country to rip apart my… pic.twitter.com/AmKqvqJiRn— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 13, 2026 Mark Shmueli, the attorney representing Barahona-Martinez, told the BBC that his client was ordered deported “in absentia” back in 2005, a hearing she was unaware of at the time. Shmueli is currently working to have that order rescinded. While a previous application for the parole-in-place program was rejected in November 2024, Shmueli has filed a motion in a Texas court to stay her deportation. He noted that ICE has acknowledged the motion, which could potentially open a path for her release. According to CBS, Shmueli stated that while Barahona-Martinez doesn’t have a criminal record, she did cross the southern border illegally in 2005. She returned to Honduras the next year, after she had her son. Government reports show that she crossed the border illegally again in 2018. Trujillo emphasized that his wife’s return to the U.S. in 2018 was driven by the necessity of getting her son critical medical care and protecting him from gang recruitment in Honduras. “This is the whole reason she’s here. To save her son,” Trujillo noted to CBS. "My heart broke": Retired U.S. military veteran Wilmer Trujillo tells CBS News' @camiloreports his wife was detained by ICE on Wednesday during a check-in appointment in Dallas, and is facing deportation.In a statement to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said… pic.twitter.com/SafMVDZocF— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 13, 2026 Barahona-Martinez is the latest detention of a military spouse, a practice that the outlet noted has become more frequent under the second Trump administration, as previous restrictions on ICE arrests were revoked. In April, ICE entered a Louisiana base and arrested the newlywed wife of an Army Staff Sergeant. Outside of spouses, ICE has also detained military veterans, one of whom passed away in custody. U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a veteran herself, criticized the policy in her comments to CBS News. “Regardless of their status, our nation’s military spouses should never be targeted and mistreated,” she said. “This Administration says they’re targeting the worst of the worst, but Arelys was doing everything ‘the right way’—attending her ICE check-in—when she was detained by ICE and sent to a detention facility in Oklahoma with no explanation.” As of Friday, Barahona-Martinez was reported to being held at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma. The outlet noted that Trujillo remains hopeful that his wife will be allowed to continue her immigration case without being separated from their family. “My message to ICE is: I’m not asking for favors. I know a lot of military members are going through this. I am just asking [ICE] to let my wife go,” Trujillo said. “Don’t break this family apart.”