U.S. Army soldier worries his wife could be deported despite release from ICE custody

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Turning now to our exclusive interview with an American soldier and his wife who were detained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement. She was released after a month in custody and is back home with her husband in Texas, but she still faces deportation and fears being swept away at a moment's notice. CBS News immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez traveled to El Paso to speak with the couple.

[00:00:23]When you learned Daisy that ICE was going to release you, how did you feel?

[00:00:27]I was happy, very happy. Very happy.

[00:00:31]You couldn't believe it. After weeks in detention, Daisy Rivera-Ortega is grateful to be back home with her husband, Sergeant First Class Jose Serrano, a US citizen whose career in the Army spans 27 years with three deployments to Afghanistan. We going to home today. This was the moment Rivera-Ortega was released after ICE arrested her back in April at an immigration appointment in El Paso, Texas. The couple knows the situation is still far from over. Jose, in this moment, what scares you the most?

[00:01:04]My wife can be deported any moment.

[00:01:06]Rivera-Ortega has been in the US for more than a decade. In 2019, an immigration judge granted her legal protection from being sent back to her native El Salvador. DHS maintains she's in the US illegally with a deportation order saying in a statement she will receive {quote} full due process.

[00:01:24]>> What's the most difficult part of being detained by ICE?

[00:01:29]Not knowing what could happen next.

[00:01:34]Not having answers, too. Democratic Senator and combat veteran Tammy Duckworth told CBS News she personally called the head of DHS asking for Rivera-Ortega to be released. And in an exclusive interview earlier in May, we asked Border Czar Tom Homan about this case. So, I'll look into it. Okay. But officers have discretion in in in certain so, know, who we prosecute, who we don't prosecute. For the couple, there are still more questions than answers. We follow the rules. We follow the rules and in doing that, my wife got arrested. Uh that is what uh my concern, that's what I feel that is not right with the process, you know? But does it make you question your commitment to the military?

[00:02:23]To this country?

[00:02:24]No. Not at all? Not at all.

[00:02:29]Sergeant First Class Serrano told us that he planned to retire from the army next year in May, after again 27 years in the military, but he is now seeking to cancel that plan. He tells us he needs to work to pay for his wife's legal fees and make preparations in case she's deported to Mexico. Right behind us. Nate? Camila, thank you.