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

Wife of US soldier is removed from Deportation flight and released from federal Immigration custody 1 of 2 | Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo shows photos of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is detained by ICE, near the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center where she is currently held, in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine) 2 of 2 | Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo poses with a photo of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is being detained by ICE, before visiting her at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine) By JACK BROOK and SAFIYAH RIDDLE Updated 3:35 PM MESZ, August 14, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit A U.S. soldier’s wife who spent more than a month in federal Immigration detention said she is back home after officers removed her from a Deportation flight to Brazil. Earlier this month, The Associated Press highlighted Maisa Lopes Eliaser as one of dozens of spouses or parents of U.S. troops who had been detained after President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back protections for military families amid its push for mass deportations. Following the AP’s reporting, a group of Congressional Democrats launched an investigation into deportations of military service members and their families. Eliaser was placed on a Deportation flight Wednesday to her native Brazil when Immigration-and-customs-enforcement" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="159711" data-entity-type="organization">U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on the plane received a phone call about her mid-flight, she told the AP. She said she was then asked by an ICE officer whether she wanted to continue on to Brazil or go back to the U.S. “Who made the call? We don’t know,” said Eliaser’s husband, Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo. “But someone made the phone call, and then she came back.” While other detainees were led off the plane in Brazil, Eliaser stayed on board and returned to Louisiana. ICE officers told her that she was “famous” because there were videos about her case, she said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Takeaways from AP’s review of military families detained under Trump’s Immigration crackdown 4 MIN READ 15 AP Exclusive: Trump’s Immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents 2 MIN READ 25 Fatal ICE encounters, reversal over vehicle stops are first major test for DHS Secretary Mullin 2 MIN READ 25 DHS previously told AP that Eliaser, 32, had been issued a final order of removal by an Immigration judge on April 15, after overstaying the tourist visa she used to enter the U.S. in 2019. Jaramillo, a 43-year-old aviation operations specialist who has served in the Army for more than a decade, took leave of his duties training soldiers in Fort Polk, Louisiana, to care of Eliaser’s 5-year-old son after she was detained on July 8. Jaramillo said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy officer, also looked into his wife’s case. Kelly’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “This family’s reunion is proof of what’s possible when people set politics aside and do right by those who serve,” said Danitza James, president of the organization Repatriate Our Patriots, which supports military families facing Deportation and helped with Eliaser’s case. “We won’t stop until every military family facing detention gets the same chance at justice.” Eliaser, who was detained in July while at an Immigration appointment, has another appointment scheduled for Monday in an effort to reopen her case and advance her green card application. Jaramillo is a U.S. citizen and the couple have been married since 2024. Jaramillo said he has been told that there will be no further issues with Eliaser’s case, but the couple is still concerned. “We are really, really, really scared about it, but you know, we have to go,” Jaramillo said. “I told the person who gave me the appointment, ‘Hey sir, don’t play with me, I’ve been through a lot.’” Eliaser said she is still struggling to sleep and is afraid she will be sent back to the detention facility, where she said she was treated like “an animal.” “It felt like I was in a nightmare,” Eliaser said. “I could not believe what was happening until I returned to my house. Day by day, I’m trying to recover from this trauma.” Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. JACK BROOK Based in New Orleans, Brook covers Louisiana with a focus on state government, environmental issues and infrastructure. He is a Report for America corps member and can be reached on the secure messaging app Signal at jackbrook.88 twitter instagram mailto SAFIYAH RIDDLE Riddle is a national law enforcement reporter based in Los Angeles, California. mailto