Wilmer Trujillo, a retired staff sergeant who served in the U.S. Army and Texas National Guard for approximately 20 years, is seeking to prevent the deportation of his wife, Arelys Barahona-Martinez. Barahona-Martinez, a native of Honduras, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a routine check-in appointment in Dallas on June 10. Trujillo expressed his distress over the situation, stating, "It breaks me because the country I worked my entire life for is ripping my family apart."
Barahona-Martinez has no criminal record but has entered the U.S. illegally twice, once in 2005 and again in 2018. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed her arrest, citing a deportation order from 2005. Barahona-Martinez is currently being held at an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, where she described her experience as "hell" and expressed her desire to remain with her family.
Trujillo noted that Barahona-Martinez may have a potential path to permanent residency through their marriage, but she would need to persuade an immigration judge to reopen her deportation case. The future of her case remains uncertain, particularly regarding whether ICE will allow her to pursue this process while in detention. Trujillo and Barahona-Martinez met in 2019, and she returned to the U.S. to seek medical treatment for her son, Idben, who has a genetic disorder. Idben, now 20, lives with Trujillo and has expressed that their home feels "empty" without his mother.