San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wrote to federal agencies seeking protections for qualified military family members following another instance of immigration officials targeting a Texas family.
In an effort to protect military readiness and preserve interest in military service in San Antonio, Jones asked U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to allow military families lawfully seeking citizenship to move through that process undeterred, with the strongest preference for approval of that status.
Last month, South Texas Democratic Congressional candidate Bobby Pulido posted a video to social media highlighting a the story of a local military family.
“Giovanna was tricked. They called her to the base to pick up her military IDs. Instead, ICE was waiting. Now she faces deportation,” Pulido said in the video.
Giovanna Perez had applied for a program called military parole in place through her husband Pedro Gutierrez, who recently enlisted in the U.S. Army, she told The Atlantic last week.
The program is designed for qualifying non-citizen family members of service members and veterans to have access to a legal pathway to citizenship, in an effort to protect military readiness.
Perez, a mom of four kids who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 6-years-old, was confronted by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents in September while going to pick up her military IDs at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi.
Jones said in the letter that the recent report of a military spouse being apprehended and detained by federal immigration officials on base in Corpus Christi is “deeply troubling.”
“According to the report, the spouse was seeking to obtain an identification card needed to access healthcare and other family benefits while her soldier spouse was away,” she added.
The military has long advertised parole in place in recruitment efforts, but that appears to be changing. The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard no longer tout the program as an enlistment benefit. The Army and National Guard still do.
For family members applying for parole in place, wait times have nearly tripled over the last year. According to USCIS data, the processing time for military parole went from 4.5 months in fiscal year 2025 to 12.5 months in fiscal year 2026.
Jones said she worries targeted immigration enforcement against military families is a recruitment deterrent, that harms San Antonio’s military reputation.
“We fear such actions may dampen interest in military service, while introducing unneeded stress during a time of heightened military operations,” she wrote.
“As Military City USA, we recognize and appreciate the service of everyone courageous enough to support and defend the Constitution, and the family members — irrespective of citizenship — who make that service possible.”
Perez’s case comes after a similar situation struck a San Antonio family in August.
U.S. Rep Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) said the mother of a U.S. Navy midshipman that he had nominated to the Naval Academy this year was detained by ICE at her green card appointment.
One week later, he said Maria Rocio Rocha was deported to Mexico, splitting up the San Antonio family as her son David Garcia continues his service.
The parole in place policy has stretched back to the George Bush administration, when DHS attempted the deport a military spouse while her husband was missing in action in Iraq. Public outcry halted the deportation, and the policy was born from that instance.
By 2013, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services had officially issued a policy memorandum outlining parole for undocumented spouses, children and parents of armed forces personnel and veterans.
In 2016 the policy was expanded even further, with military branches actively advertising it in their recruiting efforts. The policy is not a guarantee of citizenship, but it provides a pathway by allowing qualifying family members to remain in the country legally as they move through the process with their service member sponsor.
Since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, the way the government has dealt with immigration cases involving service members or their families is changing.
In 2025, a new ICE policy was issued, “ICE values the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military; however, U.S. military service alone does not automatically exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws,” it stated.
An Associated Press investigation in August found that more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained during the second Trump administration.
Perez said in a video this month that she was able to call her husband, who is still in basic training at Fort Benning, in Georgia. She recounted what he told her.
“Don’t let them get you intimidated, or anything. We have four kids that we have to stand up for. I hope I see you soon, I’m willing to die for y’all, if I have to,” she retold.
Jones asked that Hegseth and Mullin reconsider the practice of detaining military families like theirs as they work to obtain lawful permanent status.
“These families are among the very best of our communities, and it is only to our benefit to embrace their commitment to our country,” Jones concluded.
The San Antonio Report’s military and veterans coverage is supported by Report for America.
