Wife of US soldier is removed from deportation flight and released from federal immigration custody

A U.S. soldier's wife has been released from federal immigration custody after being held in detention for over a month. Maisa Lopes Eliaser, 32, was removed from a deportation flight to Brazil and returned to Louisiana. The incident occurred earlier this month when ICE officers on the flight received a phone call and intervened on her behalf.

Eliaser had been issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge after overstaying her tourist visa in 2019. Her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, supports Repatriate Our Patriots, a nonprofit that helps military families facing deportation. The Democratic senator from Arizona, Mark Kelly, also intervened on Eliaser's case, calling the policy of detaining military families "wrong and makes no sense."

Eliaser is now scheduled for another appointment to reopen her case and advance her green card application.