Marine Sgt. Cuauhtemoc “Temo” Juarez served his country in the U.S. military. Now his country may thank him by deporting his wife of nearly two decades. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will kick out Alejandra Juarez on August 3, Military Times reports, despite the fact that she has no criminal record and is married to a veteran.
“The United States has a lot of policies in place to protect veterans and active duty and their families, and it is absolutely, incredibly, frustrating that these are not being made available to the wife of a decorated veteran who has served overseas multiple times,” said attorney Chelsea Nowel. Her team “is still trying to find a last minute solution for the family.”
Juarez first fell onto ICE’s radar during a traffic stop in 2013, but with nothing on her record, “ICE deferred separation and allowed Alejandra Juarez to remain in the U.S.,” Think Progress reports. Donald Trump threw these priorities out the window following his inauguration, now leaving this military family to be torn in apart within days.
“Juarez has been preparing her daughters, Estela, 8, and Pamela,16, for this day. Alejandra is planning to bring Estela with her, but Pamela would remain in the U.S. with their dad,” Military Times reported. Earlier this year, Pamela pleaded with Trump to allow her mom to stay. “My dad did sacrifice a lot for this country, so we were already separated for that time when he was gone.”
The U.S. has a disgraceful history of deporting immigrant soldiers and their family members, but it takes on an added shame when the current president, who had numerous Vietnam War deferments, quite literally wraps himself up in the U.S. flag like it was one of his foreign-made suits. This isn’t an isolated incident under this administration, either, because in March it had to be shamed into backing off the deportation of another immigrant spouse of a veteran.
“We are utterly disappointed in the decision by ICE to deny Alejandra’s stay of removal," said Congress member Darren Soto, who filed legislation to protect this family. “Both bills have gained bipartisan support, Soto said, but the bills have not yet been taken up by committee. That may be one of the reasons ICE is moving forward, her attorneys said.”
”Trump says that he loves the military,” Alejandra told Orlando Sentinel. “This administration deporting me, what message are they sending to the military? That they don’t care about families? You serve this country, you might get killed, but, by the way, I don’t care about your spouse?”