She enlisted because the Army said it could protect her parents. Then her father was deported on July 4.

The military says it can protect immediate family members from deportation. Yet members of active-duty soldiers’ families are still being deported.

When Grace Ortega’s father was deported on July 4, she felt a sense of betrayal by the country she chose to serve. Ortega, 20, joined the Army in 2024 in part because of a program promoted by the military that offers protection from deportation for immediate family members who are in the country without authorization.

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