US Army sergeant's wife deported to Honduras as Trump continues immigration crackdown

The wife of a US Army sergeant was deported to Honduras on Monday, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The woman, Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo, was removed from the United States along with her 6-year-old daughter. The sergeant, Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, confirmed the deportation to ABC News. This marks the seventh deportation under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, involving spouses or parents of active-duty military personnel, according to an Associated Press tally.

ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, arrested Villafranca-Trejo on July 11 following a targeted immigration enforcement operation. The agency stated that she received due process during her arrest. Turcios Juarez mentioned that his wife left Honduras in 2016 due to violent crime. They had been married before he joined the military and became a US citizen in 2024, after a deployment to the Middle East. The DHS alleged that she had illegally entered the United States.

Earlier this weekend, another individual was detained under the same administration's immigration crackdown. The father of a US sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was deployed in the Middle East during the Iran conflict, was taken into federal custody and remains in detention. President Trump has been pursuing an immigration crackdown, including visa and green card revocations, and an aggressive deportation drive, claiming it aims to enhance domestic security.

However, rights groups argue that the crackdown has violated free speech and due process rights, creating an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities who have expressed concerns about potential racial profiling.