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Army wife pulled off deportation flight mid-journey, returned home to Louisiana

Aug 28, 2026·Location: Louisiana

Country of origin: Brazil

Army wife pulled off deportation flight mid-journey, returned home to Louisiana
Photo via scrippsnews.com

Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a 32-year-old Brazilian national married to Fort Polk Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, after missing an immigration appointment and overstaying a tourist visa she had used to enter the U.S. in 2019. She spent more than a month held at the ICE processing center in Basile, Louisiana, separated from the couple's five-year-old son. On August 14, she was placed on a deportation flight to Brazil, but after a stop in Bogotá, Colombia, ICE officers received a call and gave her the choice to return to the U.S., which she took, and she was released from custody. Eliaser said she struggled to sleep and felt dehumanized by the detention experience. Following media coverage and a Congressional inquiry into deportations of military family members, she has a new immigration appointment to reopen her case and pursue her green card application, while the family's appeal remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Timeline

Aug 28, 2026—Reports detail her return home, ongoing trauma, and pending appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals
Aug 14, 2026—Placed on deportation flight to Brazil; after a stop in Bogotá, ICE reversed course and returned her to the U.S.
Jul 8, 2026—Maisa Lopes Eliaser detained by ICE after missing an immigration appointment in Alabama
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