Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) accused White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s mass deportation campaign of tearing apart more than 50 military families on Tuesday, calling the detentions and removals of service members’ parents and spouses “a disgrace” as American troops continue to serve overseas.
In a post on X published at 12:57 p.m. on August 25, 2026, Gallego wrote the following in its entirety:
“While our service members risk their lives, Stephen Miller’s mass deportation agenda has torn away more than 50 of their parents and spouses.
This is a disgrace. Our men and women in uniform deserve better.”
The Post Responds to a New ABC News Report
Gallego’s statement came in direct response to an ABC News investigation published the same day detailing the deportation of Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, the wife of Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez and mother of the couple’s six-year-old daughter. Villafranca was removed to Honduras on Monday, August 24, after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers outside a Walmart in July while the couple’s young daughter watched.
“She’s been a very supportive wife since the first day that I decided to join the military. I was deployed for nine months. She took care of my family,” Turcios said of his wife. “She’s not a threat to anybody. We’re just trying to keep our family together.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the removal in a statement, saying Villafranca-Trejo “illegally entered the United States in 2016 and was released into the country under the Obama administration,” and that she was deported “in accordance with our laws” on August 24.
More Than 50 Families Affected, According to AP Investigation
According to the ABC News report, President Trump’s mass deportation campaign has swept up more than 50 parents and spouses of service members during his second term, with at least six of them deported, according to an investigation by the Associated Press. Danitza James, CEO of the advocacy group Repatriate Our Patriots, said she was working with eight active-duty service members and one veteran whose family members had been detained as of August 20.
“There are so many military families of active-duty service members that are living in the shadows of this immigration machine, that is putting them in fear of seeking resources and asking for help, while their service member is actively serving our country, and sacrificing for our nation,” James said.
A Second Case: Green Card Interview Turns Into Detention
The ABC News report also detailed the case of Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, whose wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, was detained in front of him and their five-year-old son during an appointment to interview for her green card. Lopes Eliaser was held for roughly six weeks and was put on a deportation flight toward Brazil on July 13 before Sen. Mark Kelly’s office intervened and she was returned to the United States without leaving the airplane.
“Maisa’s case is an example of this administration’s focus on targeting the loved ones of those who’ve stepped up to serve our country. It’s wrong and makes no sense at all,” Kelly said in a statement to ABC News.
“That was a nightmare. That was a really, really nightmare,” Jaramillo said of his wife’s detention. “I’m never going to explain best how difficult it was and still is.”
DHS Defends Its Enforcement Policy
DHS has pushed back on criticism of its approach to military families in prior statements. In response to the arrest of the father of an active-duty sailor, a DHS spokesperson said, “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” adding that “military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement.”
Gallego’s Broader Record on Military Families and Stephen Miller
Gallego, a Marine combat veteran who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has repeatedly targeted Miller and the administration’s immigration enforcement practices affecting service members. In September, Gallego and Senate colleagues sent a letter to DHS and the Department of Defense demanding an explanation for the arrest, detention and deportation of non-citizen service members, veterans and their families, writing that the practices “threaten U.S. national security interests and erode the U.S. military’s credibility when it makes promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for our country.”
Gallego also backed a legislative package that would prohibit the deportation of immigrant veterans who are not violent offenders and provide them a pathway to citizenship. “I fought in Iraq, and I know that on the battlefield, what matters isn’t whether you have the right papers, it’s whether you’re willing to put on the uniform and risk your life for this country. If you’re willing to do that, you deserve a clear, fair path to citizenship,” Gallego said at the time. “Donald Trump has never served a day in his life, and he’ll never understand what it means to sacrifice for this country. Yet he’s targeting immigrant servicemembers and veterans who have already risked everything to protect our freedoms.”
A Recurring Target: Stephen Miller
Tuesday’s post is one of several instances in which Gallego has singled out Miller directly. During a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Gallego pressed DHS secretary nominee Markwayne Mullin on the department’s chain of command, saying, “I don’t believe there was a real chain of command that was in the [Department] of Homeland Security. When I say that it’s because I think Stephen Miller personally was calling the shots there. And you can see the results of what actually occurred.” He added, “I want to make sure if you are there, you are in charge, and not Stephen Miller.”
Gallego has also criticized Miller over DHS funding disputes, saying Republicans were “holding TSA agents’ paychecks, disaster relief, and our national security hostage because they refuse to confront the reckless chaos inside the Department of Homeland Security under Stephen Miller’s direction.”
Historical Context: Military Service as a Pathway to Citizenship
Military families have historically occupied a protected corner of the immigration system, according to the National Military Family Association, with the undocumented parents and spouses of service members generally shielded from deportation under both Republican and Democratic administrations, according to the ABC News report. Green card holders can join the U.S. military, and troops can apply for naturalization after a year of honorable service, a policy stretching back to the Civil War.
Naturalizations through military service more than tripled in recent years, rising from about 4,500 in 2020 to 16,000 in 2024, according to Department of Homeland Security data cited by ABC News, with the Philippines, Mexico, Jamaica and Nigeria among the leading countries of origin for troops who became citizens through their service.
Congressional Response Continues to Build
Congressional Democrats sent a letter on August 9 to DHS, the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs stating they would investigate whether the Pentagon and DHS are coordinating to deport military service members and their families. James, of Repatriate Our Patriots, said individual congressional interventions are not a sustainable solution. “The best way to bring change to this is to the legislative or policy, because this should not be a phone call. This should not be a one-case change,” James said. “This is clearly impacting more than 50 military spouses and cases across the board, and there needs to be a change that is codified.”
Gallego’s post did not indicate whether he plans to introduce or support additional legislation specifically tied to Tuesday’s report, but it adds to a monthslong pattern of public pressure from the senator and other Democrats on the administration’s handling of military families amid its broader immigration enforcement push.