US Democratic Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez has launched a new investigation into the Trump administration’s arrest, detention, and deportation of Caribbean and other non-citizen service members, veterans, and their families.
Ramirez, the ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and representative of Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District, said she was joined in the probe by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), and Dick Durbin (Illinois), along with Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania) and Maggie Goodlander (New Hampshire).
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Together, the lawmakers led 55 members of Congress in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD), demanding answers for what they described as a violation of DHS’s long-standing policy shielding immigrant service members and their families from immigration enforcement.
“The Trump administration’s actions threaten U.S. national security interests and erode the military’s credibility when it makes promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for our country,” the letter stated. “We demand an explanation for why DHS is betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security.”
Ramirez, herself the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, argued that military families are being unfairly targeted using information they voluntarily provided to the government. When applying for immigration benefits such as “parole in place,” families disclose extensive personal data—including addresses, physical identifiers, and country of birth.
“Now, USCIS may be using that information to refer service members or their families to ICE for removal proceedings, even if they were previously deprioritized for enforcement actions,” Ramirez said.
The congressional coalition has requested that DHS and DOD provide, by September 16, 2025, detailed data including:
- the number of Caribbean and other non-citizens serving in the U.S. military,
- a list of those who have been arrested, detained, or deported since January 2025,
- the impact of the new immigration policies on military recruitment, readiness, and morale, and
- what information the Pentagon currently shares with DHS and ICE.
In April 2025, ICE rescinded its prior policy that treated military service as a “significant mitigating factor” in immigration enforcement cases. The new directive, Ramirez said, offers far less protection to service members and their families.
“Multiple constituents affected by the administration’s reckless changes to immigration protections for military families have shared their stories with members of Congress,” Ramirez added, warning that the policy shift risks both morale and U.S. national security.
