Army staff sergeant is trying to stop his wife's deportation

Annie Ramos, 22, the wife of Staff Sg. Matthew Blank and a biochemistry major, was brought to the U.S. when she was younger than 2 years old.

NEW ORLEANS — A U.S. Army staff sergeant is trying to halt his wife's deportation after she was detained inside a Louisiana military base where the couple was planning to live together just days after their wedding.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

The effort to remove the soldier's wife, who was born in Honduras and remained in a federal immigration detention center Monday, has drawn backlash from military family advocates who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank said he brought his wife, Annie Ramos, 22, to his base in Fort Polk, Louisiana, last Thursday so that she could begin the process to receive military benefits and take steps toward a green card. The couple married in March.