Washington: The wife of a serving U.S. Army sergeant with 27 years of service is now at risk of deportation after being detained during what was meant to be a routine immigration appointment.

Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was taken into custody on April 14 in El Paso, Texas, while attending an interview for the “Parole in Place” programme — a provision that allows undocumented family members of military personnel to remain legally in the United States.

Rivera Ortega is married to Sgt. 1st Class Jose Serrano, who is currently stationed at Fort Bliss and has completed three deployments to Afghanistan. Speaking to ABC News, Serrano said the couple had been “doing everything by the book.” He said that his wife’s life is focused on going to work or to church.

Serrano said that shortly after they arrived for their appointment at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services building last week, an unidentified person detained his wife.

“At the end of the hallway, my wife was apprehended... they put handcuffs on, and they took her away,” Serrano told ABC News. “And nobody told me anything, even when I was asking, ‘Hey, what's going on? What's going on with her?”

Rivera Ortega, who currently works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss, has a valid work permit through 2030 and was previously granted withholding of removal from her home country, El Salvador, according to documents reviewed by ABC News.

She is now at risk of deportation to Mexico. He told ABC News that as an active-duty sergeant, he would likely not be able to travel to Mexico if his wife were deported.

Ortega is currently detained at the El Paso Service Processing Centre. In a statement to ABC News, the Department of Homeland Security said Ortega entered the country illegally and was issued a final order of removal.