The wife of a U.S. soldier has returned home after spending more than a month in federal immigration custody, following her removal from a deportation flight bound for Brazil.
Maisa Lopes Eliaser was highlighted by The Associated Press earlier this month as one of dozens of military relatives detained after President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back protections for families of service members during a mass deportation push. In response to the reporting, Congressional Democrats opened an investigation into the deportation of military personnel and their families.
Eliaser explained that she was on a Wednesday flight to Brazil when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents received a phone call about her case mid-flight. An officer then asked if she wanted to proceed to Brazil or return to the U.S.
“Who made the call? We don’t know,” said Eliaser’s husband, Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo. “But someone made the phone call, and then she came back.”
While other detainees were led off the plane in Brazil, Eliaser stayed on board and returned to Louisiana. ICE officers told her that she was “famous” because there were videos about her case, she said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DHS previously told AP that Eliaser, 32, had been issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on April 15, after overstaying the tourist visa she used to enter the U.S. in 2019.
Jaramillo, an aviation operations specialist who has served in the Army for more than a decade, took leave of his duties training soldiers in Fort Polk, Louisiana, to care of Eliaser's 5-year-old son after she was detained on July 8.
Jaramillo said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy officer, also looked into his wife’s case. Kelly’s office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This family’s reunion is proof of what’s possible when people set politics aside and do right by those who serve,” said Danitza James, president of the organization Repatriate Our Patriots, which supports military families facing deportation and helped with Eliaser’s case. “We won’t stop until every military family facing detention gets the same chance at justice.”
Eliaser, who was detained in July while at an immigration appointment, has another appointment scheduled for Monday in an effort to reopen her case and advance her green card application. Jaramillo is a U.S. citizen and the couple have been married since 2024.
Jaramillo said he has been told that there will be no further issues with Eliaser’s case, but the couple is still concerned.
“We are really, really, really scared about it, but you know, we have to go,” Jaramillo said. “I told the person who gave me the appointment, ‘Hey sir, don’t play with me, I’ve been through a lot.’”
Eliaser said she is still struggling to sleep and is afraid she will be sent back to the detention facility, where she said she was treated like “an animal.”
“It felt like I was in a nightmare,” Eliaser said. “I could not believe what was happening until I returned to my house. Day by day, I’m trying to recover from this trauma.”
