Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested the wife of 23-year-old U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank shortly after they arrived at a military base in Fort Polk, Louisiana, on April 2.
He arrived from Houston with his new wife, Annie Ramos, and his parents to report for duty at Fort Polk. The appointment was scheduled for 2 p.m., where Ramos was expected to receive her military spouse ID and benefits.
However, shortly after presenting their documents at the base visitor center, including their marriage license and her Honduran passport, ICE agents abruptly detained her and transported her to a detention facility in Basile.
According to The Independent, 22-year-old Annie Ramos is an undocumented immigrant brought to the United States as a child. She married a U.S. citizen and was allegedly seeking a green card. She reportedly planned to apply for citizenship within three years of marriage.
She is a university student who is close to completing her degree in biochemistry and also teaches in the Sunday school. The couple married last year, and Annie Ramos said that the U.S. is the only home she has ever known.
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However, authorities stated she had a prior deportation order issued in 2005, when she was an infant, and therefore has no legal status in the United States. Once an individual obtains a green card or permanent resident card in the U.S., they can live, work, own property, and travel internationally.
For family members and spouses, a close relative or permanent resident must sponsor their green card. While the card must be renewed every 10 years, holders have no right to vote in federal elections.
The detention of Annie Ramos has left the family devastated, and they have set up a fundraiser to cover legal fees. Matthew Blank, who has served overseas, said he will do everything possible to bring his wife back and has support from his military superiors.
“Our plan was to drive over, bring her to the office to get her military ID and activate her military spouse benefits.” Matthew Blank told The New York Times.
“She was going to move in after the Easter weekend. Instead, she got ripped away from me,” he added. Blank admitted he knew she did not have permanent status, so they were working to complete the paperwork legally with an immigration lawyer.“We were doing everything the right way,” the husband said.
Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security officials said Annie Ramos had no legal right to stay in the U.S. and had a deportation order issued in 2005, when she was 20 months old. According to ABC News, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement, Ramos was arrested “after she attempted to enter a military base.”
She allegedly entered the U.S. in February 2005 by crossing the southern border and was later ordered removed on April 7, 2005, after her family failed to attend an immigration hearing.
Gaby Pacheco, president and CEO of TheDream.US, criticized Ramos’s detention and claimed that detaining a woman who has been married and living in the U.S all her life does not enhance national security. Instead, it harms the military families involved and challenges America’s core values as a country.
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As the family is trying to bring Ramos back, her father-in-law, Rickling, described her as a kind, intelligent, and committed woman. “We absolutely adore her,” he said.
On August 28, 2025, CNN reported that the U.S. ICE had deported nearly 200,000 people within seven months of the Trump administration returning to office. By January 2026, the total number of deportations carried out by ICE alone had increased to approximately 540,000.
