The wife of a US Army staff sergeant was released after being detained by ICE while the couple was attempting to move into their new home on a Louisiana military base. Annie Ramos, 22, was freed on Tuesday after five days in federal custody at a detention center in Basile, Louisiana - but still needs to wear an ankle monitor. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the Daily Mail that Ramos entered the country illegally from Honduras in 2005. She was just 22 months old. 'She was released on order of supervision with a GPS monitor while she undergoes further removal proceedings,' they said. 'She will receive full due process.'

Ramos was detained on Thursday during an appointment that would have allowed her to join her new husband, Matthew Blank, 23, at a Fort Polk Army base. Blank was set to begin training for deployment later this month and had planned to set up his new bride with military spouse benefits. The couple married in March and had hoped to move in together over Easter weekend. 'All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby,' Ramos said in a statement obtained by the Guardian. 'I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community – just as my husband serves our country with honor. I am deeply grateful to my husband, Matthew, who never stopped fighting for me, and to our families and community who surrounded us with love, prayers and support,' she added. 'Because of them, I am home.'

Ramos is a student at Arizona State University. She was just months from completing her bachelor's degree in biochemistry when she was detained. Ramos was issued a final notice of removal a few months after entering the country, when her family failed to appear at an immigration court hearing. Blank was aware that his bride was undocumented, but the couple hired a lawyer before their union to ensure she could obtain citizenship legally. Blank and Ramos reportedly arrived at the base early for their 2pm appointment on Thursday and checked in at the visitor's center. They had Ramos's birth certificate and passport, their marriage license and Blank's military ID in tow. When Ramos told an employee that she did not have a green card or visa, Blank alleged that the worker made a series of frantic phone calls.

According to the family, a supervisor escalated the simple appointment to the base's criminal investigation division, which contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security told the Daily Mail that Ramos 'had no legal status to be in this country.' '[She] was issued a final order of removal by a judge,' it read. 'This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.' In the days that followed, the family contacted everyone they could think of to keep Ramos from being deported. Blank told the New York Times that it was Arizona Senator Mark Kelly who helped push for Ramos' release. Kelly spoke with new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who agreed to bring Ramos home. Blank and Ramos met last year on a dating app. They quickly fell in love and were engaged by New Year's Day. They hosted 60 guests at their wedding last month in Houston before driving to Louisiana to begin their new life. Blank and his family issued a statement to Dream US in defense of his new wife, saying 'she did everything right' when it came to her citizenship. 'I am a man of faith. I love my country, and I love my wife,' Blank said. 'My wife has lived in the United States since she was a baby. 'When she had the opportunity to apply for legal status, she did everything right. In 2020, she applied for DACA, paid the fees, completed her fingerprints, and, like so many others, her application has been left in limbo. 'I never imagined that trying to do the right thing—registering my wife so she could receive her military ID, access the benefits she is entitled to as my spouse and begin the process toward her green card—would lead to her being taken away from me.'

Blank has previously been deployed to Europe and the Middle East. He enlisted in the Army five years ago. Blank's mother, Jen Rickling, told the New York Times that Ramos is 'absolutely a sweetheart' and issued a statement on her daughter-in-law's behalf. 'Annie is everything you would hope for in a daughter-in-law. She is kind, smart, and dedicated: she teaches Sunday school, she’s finishing her degree, and she loves my son with her whole heart,' she said. 'We absolutely adore her.' 'I believe in this country. And I believe we can do better than this – for Annie, for other military families, and for the values we hold dear,' she added. 'My son and my daughter-in-law should be able to build their lives together here, in a nation that my son is so committed to serving.'