Published Jun 10, 2026, 12:35 PM EDT
An immigrant married to a longtime soldier has spent months in his home country of El Salvador.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are disputing a Texas Army National Guard sergeant's retelling of her husband's deportation and how her years of military service were ignored by federal authorities when deciding to remove him from the United States. Military.com previously reported how Sgt. Nataly Castro, 26, a seven-year veteran who lives in Houston, has spent in excess of $3,000 in legal fees to help bring back her deported husband, Fredy Arcenio Zavala-Baires, 25, from El Salvador. The case is one of many highlighted by ongoing animosity between the federal government, lawmakers and citizens, based on differing views on ICE's authority, handling of immigration cases, crime, and taxpayer monies subsidizing widespread deportation efforts. The couple was married on April 9, 2023, and according to Castro, repeatedly attempted to secure proper immigration proceedings in order to gain U.S. citizenship. Days before Thanksgiving 2025, Zavala went in for a routine ICE appointment and was told by officials that he was being detained due to his immigration status. Castro acknowledged that he was not a U.S. citizen, having crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with his mother when he was a child. Zavala then spent three days in an ICE facility prior to being transferred the following Monday to a detention center in Port Isabel, a few miles from South Padre Island and in proximity to the southern border. That was the last time Castro saw him in person.
