ABC News (US)
· collected 2026-09-15 · by Steven Beynon, Catherine Bouvet
As ICE deports service members' families, the Pentagon turns to immigrant communities to fill military ranks
The Pentagon is recruiting green-card holders at a rapidly growing pace.
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Pentagon → deport → pace
Army Spc. Jasmine Hernandez enlisted in the Army in part out of gratitude for the life her parents had worked to build for her.
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parents → enlist → her
Her father came to the United States illegally from Guanajuato, Mexico, at 17, looking for work and a safe place to raise a family.
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father → come → family
For Hernandez, one way to return that sacrifice was to protect him from deportation.
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way → return → deportation
"I walked into the recruiter's office.
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I → walk → office
I felt like I needed to do something for my parents.
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I → feel → parents
I didn't want them to live in fear anymore," Hernandez said, adding she had a patriotic draw to military service.
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she → want → service
"I love my country," she said.
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she → love → country
Still, Hernandez's military service didn't prevent her father from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention earlier this year -- just one of several cases where military families are being swept into President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown, despite systems in place meant to protect them.
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families → prevent → them
It happens amid a backdrop of a military increasingly turning to the immigrant community to fill its ranks.
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military → happen → ranks
Shortly after joining the Army in 2024, Hernandez submitted her father, Aniceto Hernandez-Reyna, for Military Parole in Place, an immigration program that can allow undocumented parents and other close relatives of service members to remain in the country.
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parents → join → country
An Army legal office has described the policy as a matter of military preparedness, saying that uncertainty over a family member's immigration status can weigh on troops and interfere with their duties.
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uncertainty → describe → duties
"Such personal concerns have the potential to adversely affect a service member's ability to focus on mission-essential duties," an April Army legal notice to the force outlining the program says.
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notice → have → program
On May 16, more than a year after Hernandez applied her father for the Military Parole in Place program, ICE officers detained Hernandez-Reyna at a gas station just outside of Phoenix in front of Hernandez's two younger brothers.
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officers → apply → brothers
She was 2,000 miles away at the time, stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
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She → station → Stewart
Hernandez-Reyna's application for Military Parole in Place was still pending when immigration officers detained him
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officers → pende → him
The longstanding program can allow undocumented spouses, parents and children of service members and veterans to remain in the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, typically in one-year increments.
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spouses → allow → increments
It can also make it easier for some recipients to seek work authorization or pursue a green card, though it does not itself promise legal status.
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it → make → status
"Programs like Military Parole in Place are not automatic, and having a pending application does not confer legal status," a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which ICE falls under, said in a statement.
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ICE → have → statement
Trump has said his immigration crackdown aims to target the "worst of the worst" criminal offenders among the nation's migrants.
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crackdown → say → migrants
An ABC News review of state and federal records did not find records of violent crime for Hernandez-Reyna.
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review → find → Reyna
He has had several traffic violations, including a DUI in 2002.
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He → have → 2002
Hernandez said her father's ICE detention is causing her stress at a time she's serving the country.
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she → say → country
I’m here serving the country, and this happens to my own family," Hernandez said.
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Hernandez → ’m → family
Sometimes I have a hard time focusing because I'm just so stressed out."
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I → have → time
Her father remains at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.
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father → remain → Arizona
Hernandez has spoken with him once since he was detained.
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he → speak → him
She does not know when she will hear from him again.
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she → know → him
Pentagon fueling the ranks with immigrant community
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Pentagon → fuel → community
Families of service members targeted by ICE include relatives with no violent criminal record who have been detained or deported.
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who → target → record
This comes as the Pentagon is recruiting from the immigrant community, including legal permanent residents, or green-card holders, at a rapidly growing pace -- with their number climbing sharply in recent years, a reflection of broader demographic trends in the U.S.
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number → come → U.S.
An investigation from the Associated Press in April found that more than 50 spouses and parents of service members have been detained during Trump’s second term, with at least six of them being deported.
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six → find → them
A Defense Department spokesperson said that the Pentagon "respects the rule of law and the officers who enforce it" in regards to these ICE actions.
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who → say → actions
Earlier this year, ICE detained Annie Ramos, 22, the Honduras-born wife of Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank, as she tried to register for military benefits at Fort Polk, Louisiana, just days after the couple married.
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couple → detain → Polk
Federal agents detained Ramos over a removal order issued in 2005, when she was 20 months old.
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she → detain → 2005
She was later released with an ankle monitor after five days and widespread media coverage, but a DHS spokesperson said at the time the government would continue pursuing her deportation.
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government → release → deportation
"All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby," Ramos said in a statement in April.
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Ramos → want → April
"I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community -- just as my husband serves our country with honor."
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husband → want → honor
Danitza James, CEO of Repatriate Our Patriots, which works to reunite the deported family members of active-duty service members and veterans, said that the number of cases of detention and deportation she has seen is "heartbreaking."
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she → work → detention
Last year, the military recruited nearly 11,000 green-card holders, up from roughly 6,800 in 2021, a 62% increase, according to Defense Department data reviewed by ABC News, with that upward trend already on pace to continue this year.
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trend → recruit → pace
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
