Wife of Coast Guard member faces deportation after being arrested over expired visa
Coast Guardsman’s Wife Arrested by Immigration Authorities on U.S. Naval Base
Earlier this week, the wife of an active-duty Coast Guardsman was arrested by federal immigration authorities inside the family residential section of the U.S. Naval Air Station at Key West, Florida. The arrest occurred after she was flagged in a routine security check, according to officials.
Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth confirmed the on-base arrest and stated, “The spouse is not a member of the Coast Guard and was detained by Homeland Security Investigations pursuant to a lawful removal order. The Coast Guard works closely with HSI and others to enforce federal laws, including on immigration.”
According to a U.S. official, the woman’s work visa expired around 2017, and she was marked for removal from the United States a few years later. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, mentioned that the woman and the Coast Guardsman were married earlier this year.
Although immigration arrests have been a top priority for federal law enforcement, it does not seem that the arrest of the military spouse was part of a broader sweep under the Trump administration.
When the couple was preparing to move into their on-base housing, the woman’s name was flagged during a routine security screening for base access. Base personnel contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), which, along with Coast Guard security personnel and Homeland Security Investigations, took the spouse into custody.
The Coast Guard did not provide details about the woman’s identity, immigration status, or charges, referring questions to ICE, which did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Homeland Security also did not comment on the matter.
The husband of the arrested woman is a Coast Guardsman assigned to the USCGC Mohawk, a cutter based at Key West. The couple was in the process of moving into U.S. government housing at the Naval Air Station.
The Mohawk had recently returned from a 70-day deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean on a mission to intercept shipments of illegal drugs. The Navy stated that it fully cooperated with federal law enforcement on the matter and takes security and access at naval installations seriously.
