WASHINGTON, United States: The Army sergeant’s wife deported to Honduras on Monday was Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.
Her husband, US Army Sergeant Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, told ABC News that Villafranca-Trejo is the mother of their 6-year-old child.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested her on July 11 during what DHS described as a targeted immigration enforcement operation.
Turcios Juarez previously said officers detained his wife outside a Walmart while their daughter watched. DHS alleged that Villafranca-Trejo had entered the United States illegally and said she received due process.
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According to the Associated Press, she is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty US service member deported under the Trump administration’s immigration campaign.
Turcios Juarez became a US citizen in 2024 after a nine-month military deployment to the Middle East, ABC News reported. He said he had started pursuing citizenship for his wife.
He also said Villafranca-Trejo left Honduras in 2016 because of violent crime. Separately, immigration authorities recently detained the father of a US sailor serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
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President Donald Trump has said his immigration enforcement policies aim to improve domestic security. Rights groups have challenged parts of the campaign over due process and civil-rights concerns.
