Wife of U.S. Coast Guard Member arrested on expired visa after security check on military housing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A wife of an active Coast Guard was arrested by federal immigration authorities earlier this week in a family residential area at the U.S. Navy Air Station after being marked on Saturday’s daily security check.
“The spouse is not a member of the Coast Guard and has detained a homeland security investigation under a legal dismissal order,” said Lieutenant CMDR, a spokesman for the Coast Guard. Steve Roth confirmed Thursday’s base arrest in a statement. “The Coast Guard works closely with the HSI and others to enforce federal laws, including immigration.”
According to U.S. officials, the woman’s work visa expired around 2017 and she was tagged as evacuating from the U.S. several years later. The official said she and the Coast Guard were married early this year.
While the Trump administration has made immigration arrests a top priority for federal law enforcement, it did not immediately appear on the scene to arrest military spouses as part of a wider sweep.
The official said when the woman and her Coast Guard husband were preparing to move into the base housing on Wednesday, they went to the Visitor Control Center to get a pass so she could access the Key West installation. During the regular security screening required for basic access, the woman’s name was marked as a problem.
The official said base personnel contacted the Navy Criminal Investigation Bureau, which investigated the matter. The official said NCIS and Coast Guard security personnel obtained permission from the base commander to enter the installation and then went to the Coast Guard home on Thursday. They join people from Homeland Security Investigations, one of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement departments.
The HSI eventually detained her spouse, and officials said they believe she was still in custody. The official did not provide the name of the country she came from.
The Coast Guard forwarded questions about the woman’s identity, immigration status and allegations to the ICE, which did not respond to Saturday’s request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security also did not respond to a request for comment.
The arrested woman’s husband is a Coast Guard assigned to USCGC Mohawk, a 270-foot knife located in Key West. The couple is moving into U.S. government housing at a nearby Naval Air Station.
Online databases tracking ship movements indicate that the Mohawks have docked at their local ports since mid-March. Media releases on March 16 said the ship recently returned to the Eastern Pacific after 70 days of deployment to intercept illegal drug transport missions.
“We take the security and access to the Navy facilities seriously,” the Navy said in a statement.
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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to the report.
