An Air Force sergeant in Abilene is furiously working to keep his lawfully present Guatemalan wife from being deported after she was detained late last year.
According to friends of the family, Sgt. Colby Grafa’s wife was rounded up in November, despite having a military dependent ID and a work permit, among other documentation, and she currently is at risk of being deported to Mexico, Ecuador, or Honduras — countries she has no connections to.
Family members said the Grafas have a 1-year-old child who was nursing at the time of her detainment.
According to a social media update on Feb. 2, a judge denied their motion to terminate the action against Mrs. Grafa, and he family’s next hearing is slated for Feb. 26.
The chain of events began when Grafa, a San Angelo native, took his wife to an ICE facility, as instructed, to change their address with USCIS because he was transferred back to Texas.
Instead of receiving help with their change of address, authorities detained and transferred his wife to a detention facility. The family has been working to provide all of the documents needed to obtain citizenship through legal channels.
