U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a combat veteran who lost both legs flying missions in Iraq, condemned the Trump administration on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported the wife of an active-duty Army sergeant, calling the removal “absolutely despicable” and accusing President Donald Trump of undermining the readiness of the troops he commands.
The Full Statement
Duckworth posted her statement on X at 7:50 p.m. on August 25, 2026. Her post read in its entirety:
“Absolutely despicable.
Trump’s ICE arrested the wife of Army Sgt. Hedcar Leonel Turcios Juarez in front of their 6-year-old.
How can we expect our troops to be at their best when their Commander in Chief is deporting their loved ones at home?
This is no way to honor our heroes.”
The Case That Prompted Her Response
Duckworth’s post was a direct response to ABC News reporting published this week detailing the deportation of Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, the wife of Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, who was removed to Honduras on Monday, August 24, 2026. Turcios Juarez told ABC News that ICE officers detained his wife outside a Walmart in July as the couple’s six-year-old daughter watched. Villafranca had left Honduras in 2016 to escape violent crime in the country, according to her husband.
Turcios Juarez attended high school in the United States before enlisting in the Army and becoming a U.S. citizen in 2024, following a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. He said he began pursuing citizenship for his wife afterward, hoping his service would help expedite her naturalization process.
“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 Juarez said. “She’s not a threat to anybody. We’re just trying to keep our family together.”
DHS Confirms the Removal
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Villafranca-Trejo’s deportation in a statement to ABC News, saying she was “removed from the United States in accordance with our laws” on August 24. DHS said ICE arrested her on July 11 during what it described as “a targeted immigration enforcement operation,” alleging she “illegally entered the United States in 2016 and was released into the country under the Obama administration.”
Villafranca-Trejo was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2017 after failing to appear at a hearing, according to DHS. Turcios Juarez disputed that account, telling the Associated Press his wife never received notice of the hearing and was unaware of the removal order until the couple applied for her green card after marrying in 2022. Her motion to reopen the case was denied and an appeal remained pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals at the time of her deportation.
Conditions in Detention
While detained at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas — the country’s largest immigration detention facility, built on land formerly used to intern Japanese Americans during World War II — Turcios Juarez said his wife wore the same clothing for roughly four days. The issue was resolved only after Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) sent an inquiry to ICE on the family’s behalf; Escobar’s office said the congresswoman also visited Villafranca-Trejo at the facility earlier this month.
Part of a Broader Pattern
The Turcios Juarez family’s case is not isolated. The Associated Press has documented more than 50 cases in which parents or spouses of active-duty service members have been swept into Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign, with Villafranca-Trejo counted as at least the seventh military spouse or parent deported during his second term. An ABC News review of state and federal records found no criminal record for any of the military spouses named in its reporting.
Danitza James, CEO of Repatriate Our Patriots, an advocacy organization that works to reunite active-duty service members and veterans with detained family members, said her group is currently working eight active-duty cases and one veteran case 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 Break From Longstanding Policy
For decades, undocumented parents and spouses of U.S. service members were generally shielded from deportation under policies embraced by both Republican and Democratic administrations, and military recruiters have long promoted enlistment as a pathway to citizenship for both troops and their relatives. That changed in April 2025, when ICE rescinded its policy designating military service a “significant mitigating factor” in enforcement decisions.
A DHS spokesperson defended the shift in response to a separate case involving the father of an active-duty sailor, saying: “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws. Military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement.”
Duckworth’s Record on Military Family Deportations
Duckworth’s statement is consistent with a sustained campaign she has waged on the issue. In September 2025, she joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in leading more than 55 members of Congress in opening a formal investigation into the Trump administration’s arrest, detention and deportation of non-citizen service members, veterans and military families. That investigation has since found that ICE attempted to deport 282 veterans and their relatives.
Source: Sen. Elizabeth Warren
In January 2026, Duckworth and Rep. Gilbert Cisneros introduced the bicameral PROTECT Military Families Act, legislation intended to shield military families from deportation and forced separation, which Duckworth’s office has said undermines military morale and mission readiness. “There is no higher betrayal to our heroes than to have one of their family members deported by the same nation they sacrificed to defend,” Duckworth said when the bill was introduced. “In his ICE raids, Donald Trump is targeting servicemembers, Veterans and their loved ones—separating families who have made tremendous sacrifices for our country.”
In May 2026, Duckworth said she personally called then-DHS Secretary Mullin to secure the release of military spouse Deisy Rivera Ortega from ICE detention after Rivera Ortega was detained without a warrant while attending a Military Parole in Place interview. “There is no higher betrayal to our heroes than to have one of their family members deported by the same nation they sacrificed to defend,” Duckworth said at the time, adding that she would “never stop working to protect our Veterans and military families.”
Other Lawmakers Have Intervened in Similar Cases
Duckworth is not the only senator who has stepped in on behalf of military families facing removal proceedings. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a Navy veteran, said he worked directly with ICE’s field office to help secure the return of Maisa Lopes Eliaser, the Brazilian wife of Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, after she was detained during a green card interview and deported before being flown back to the United States mid-transit. “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.
What Comes Next
James, of Repatriate Our Patriots, said congressional intervention on a case-by-case basis is 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.” Congressional Democrats wrote to DHS, the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs on August 9 seeking answers on whether the Pentagon and DHS are coordinating to deport military service members and their families, a probe that remains ongoing as of Duckworth’s Tuesday statement.