Duckworth Calls Out Trump Administration for Delaying and Neglecting Servicemembers’ Immigration Cases

Duckworth Calls Out Trump Administration for Delaying and Neglecting Servicemembers' Immigration Cases

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) slammed the Trump Administration for once again betraying our nation's heroes by gutting the Immigrant Military Members and Veteran Initiative (IMMVI)-a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) created in 2021 to help streamline immigration processes for Veterans and their families. In a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and VA directors, Duckworth called out the Administration for mishandling the immigration cases of American servicemembers, Veterans and their loved ones, resulting in the wrongful initiation of deportation proceedings and countless denials of parole in place applications. The dismantling of this essential government service has led to countless critical errors and too often a complete unresponsiveness from ICE and USCIS to Veterans' immigration concerns, leaving them unable to work, provide for their families and access the resources they deserve.

"I demand the immediate restoration of IMMVI to full capacity, along with a transparent and detailed explanation for why DHS and the VA betrayed their promises to the brave men and women who served our Nation in uniform," wrote Duckworth. "For more than two centuries, our Nation has recognized that immigrant servicemembers possess critical skills that enhance military readiness and strengthen national security. In return for their service, the United States Government offers unique protections, options for repatriation and pathways to citizenship for noncitizen servicemembers, Veterans and their immediate family members. IMMVI was born out of this commitment by our Government to support immigrant servicemembers."

Duckworth's letter comes after she successfully secured the release of Deisy Rivera Ortega-wife of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jose Serrano-who was arrested and detained by ICE during a routine immigration check-in appointment on April 14, 2026, in El Paso, Texas. SFC Jose Serrano is an active-duty Soldier who has served in the Army for over 25 years, including in Afghanistan.

"We have a duty to honor and support the service of immigrant Veterans and their families, whether by the opportunity to earn citizenship, allowing them to remain with their families or ensuring they receive the care they've earned for service-connected medical conditions," continued Duckworth. "To keep America's promise, you must return to a robust and fully functioning IMMVI program."

Full text of the letter is available on Senator Duckworth's website and below:

Dear Secretary Mullin, Secretary Collins, Director Edlow, and Acting Director Venturella:

I am deeply alarmed by the current state of discretionary immigration options for noncitizen military servicemembers, Veterans and their family members, particularly with regard to the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Veterans Affairs' (VA) Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative (IMMVI).

My constituents and their attorneys report that your offices are unresponsive to servicemembers, fail to participate in interagency IMMVI collaboration and perform sloppy work replete with administrative errors that severely harm Veterans with open immigration cases. I demand the immediate restoration of IMMVI to full capacity, along with a transparent and detailed explanation for why DHS and the VA betrayed their promises to the brave men and women who served our Nation in uniform.

For more than two centuries, our Nation has recognized that immigrant servicemembers possess critical skills that enhance military readiness and strengthen national security. In return for their service, the United States Government offers unique protections, options for repatriation and pathways to citizenship for noncitizen servicemembers, Veterans and their immediate family members. IMMVI was born out of this commitment by our Government to support immigrant servicemembers.

Established in 2021, IMMVI facilitates naturalization for servicemembers and Veterans, supports noncitizen servicemembers and their immediate family members and helps reunite deported members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Veterans and their family members with relatives in the United States. The program has been remarkably successful in returning 138 deported Veterans home to the United States, and nearly half of these Veterans have restored their lawful permanent resident status or naturalized. Yet, significant work remains to be done to help the total number of servicemembers, Veterans and military family members that desperately need permanent immigration relief.

Unfortunately, I continue to receive accounts from affected Veteran families and their attorneys that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and ICE are completely unresponsive to their IMMVI cases, do not collaborate or share information and make critical errors that greatly impact Veterans' cases. In some instances, attorneys report communication delays from IMMVI as far out as two years.

To make matters worse, many Veterans who have been granted military parole-in-place (MPIP) are facing delays in the processing of their employment authorization documents (EADs). As a result, their one-year MPIP status may expire while they are still awaiting renewal of their EADs, forcing them to reapply for MPIP and once again apply for and await their EAD renewal. During this Kafkaesque administrative loop, these individuals lack the ability to legally work in the United States and therefore lose the ability to provide for their families and to contribute economically to their communities.

Furthermore, my constituents report a myriad of administrative errors including erroneous I-131 parole application denials; re-parole denials due to non-payment for applications that have no cost and the initiation of dubious removal proceedings while re-parole is pending following a denial for adjustment of status.

Your agencies once believed that our commitment to support and care for our servicemembers begins at enlistment and continues as they become Veterans. We have a duty to honor and support the service of immigrant Veterans and their families, whether by the opportunity to earn citizenship, allowing them to remain with their families or ensuring they receive the care they've earned for service-connected medical conditions. To keep America's promise, you must return to a robust and fully functioning IMMVI program.

Accordingly, I urgently request the following from your offices:

1. Immediately restore IMMVI to its former capacity, including staffing IMMVI with immigration officers who have received specialized training, developed in coordination with the VA and DHS, to adjudicate parole requests.
2. Ensure there are dedicated call operators to speak to individuals who call the USCIS military helpline.
3. Collaborate among your agencies to consolidate relevant Federal resources for noncitizen servicemembers, Veterans and their families, and have that information readily accessible for the public.
4. Respond to constituent and congressional inquiries related to IMMVI.
5. Provide detailed, accurate responses to the following questions:

1. How are your agencies processing IMMVI cases;
2. How many agency employees are handling IMMVI cases;
3. How many agency employees have been reassigned from working on IMMVI mattes to other non-IMMVI activities; and
4. Why have agency employees ceased direct communication with constituents and their attorneys on IMMVI matters?

Sincerely,

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