ICE Put Her on a Deportation Flight to Brazil: A Call Changed the Fate of a Soldier’s Wife

• Soldier’s wife detained by ICE
• A call changed everything
• She will seek to reopen her case

Maisa Lopes Eliaser was about to be deported to Brazil after spending more than a month in immigration detention, but a call received when she was already on the plane triggered an unexpected turn in her case.

The 32-year-old woman, wife of Army Sergeant Alexis Jaramillo, had been placed on the flight Wednesday when ICE agents received a communication and subsequently asked her whether she wanted to continue to Brazil or return to the United States.

• Why it matters: The case once again draws attention to the detention of family members of military service members, following the elimination of immigration protections for these families amid the deportation campaign under the Donald Trump administration.
• Key points: Eliaser returned to Louisiana and is back with her family, but she still faces immigration proceedings. She has a scheduled hearing to seek to reopen her case and move forward with her application for permanent residency.

ICE deportation of soldier’s wife avoided after a call

• The detail: Eliaser said she remained on the plane while other detainees got off after arriving in Brazil, and she later returned to Louisiana on the same aircraft.

“Who made the call? We don’t know,” Jaramillo said. “But someone made the call and then she came back,” he explained about the intervention that unexpectedly changed his wife’s journey.

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According to Eliaser, ICE agents told her she was “famous” because of videos circulating about her situation, although it remains unclear who made the call that stopped her deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the circumstances that led to the deportation being halted.

Maisa Lopes Eliaser’s case still involves immigration proceedings

• The process: DHS had previously reported that an immigration judge issued a final removal order against Eliaser on April 15 after she remained in the United States beyond the period authorized by the tourist visa she used to enter the country in 2019.

Eliaser was detained on July 8 during an immigration appointment. Her husband, an aviation operations specialist who has served in the Army for more than a decade, requested leave to care for her five-year-old son.

Jaramillo also said that Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy officer, investigated his wife’s situation, although his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This family’s reunion is proof of what is possible when people put politics aside,” said Danitza James, director of Repatriate Our Patriots, an organization that assisted with the case.

Military family fears another ICE detention

• What happens next: The next step will be an immigration appointment scheduled for Monday, where Maisa Lopes Eliaser will seek to reopen her case and continue her application for permanent residency after returning home.

The couple has been married since 2024, and Jaramillo is a U.S. citizen. Although he says he received assurances that they would not face further problems, both acknowledge that attending the upcoming appointment is frightening.

“We are very, very, very scared, but we have to go,” Jaramillo said. Eliaser also said she continues to have trouble sleeping and fears ending up in a detention center again.

“I felt like I was in a nightmare,” Eliaser recalled about her detention. “I couldn’t believe what was happening until I got home. Day by day, I’m trying to recover from this trauma.”

 

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Maisa Lopes Eliaser’s case reignites debate over military families and deportations

• The limitation: Eliaser’s return to Louisiana does not automatically mean she has obtained permanent immigration status or that her case has ended; her situation will depend on what happens with the effort to reopen her case.

The intervention comes after Democratic lawmakers launched an investigation into deportations affecting service members and their relatives, following the public disclosure of several detention cases.

Other military family members have also been released after outside interventions, including Annie Ramos and Deisy Rivera Ortega, whose cases drew public attention and efforts to secure their release.

Maisa Lopes Eliaser’s case now leaves one central question unanswered: who made that call when the flight was already underway, and what happened to turn a deportation that appeared inevitable into her return to the United States, according to The Mirror and Telemundo.