The wife of an active-duty Coast Guardsman was arrested earlier this week by federal immigration authorities inside the family residential section of the United States Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida, after being flagged during a routine security check, officials said Saturday.
“The spouse is not a member of the Coast Guard and was detained by Homeland Security Investigations pursuant to a lawful removal order,” said Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth, confirming Thursday’s on-base arrest. “The Coast Guard works closely with HSI and others to enforce federal laws, including on immigration.”
The arrest happened on move-in day at the base
According to a US official, the woman’s work visa expired around 2017, and she was scheduled for removal a few years later. She and the Coast Guardsman got married early this year, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an enforcement matter.
Though the Trump administration has made immigration arrests a top priority for federal law enforcement, it was unclear whether the military spouse’s on-base arrest was part of a larger sweep.
According to the official, as the woman and her Coast Guard husband prepared to move into their on-base housing on Wednesday, they went to the visitor control center to obtain a pass that would allow her to access the Key West installation. During the routine security screening required for base access, the woman’s name came up as a problem.
According to the official, base personnel contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, who investigated the incident. NCIS and Coast Guard security personnel obtained permission from the base commander to enter the installation and then visited the Coast Guardsman’s home on Thursday, according to the official. They were joined by members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division.
The spouse was eventually detained by HSI, and the official believes she is still in custody. Officials did not say what country she is from.
The Coast Guard referred questions about the woman’s identity, immigration status, and charges to ICE, which did not return a request for comment on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The arrested woman’s husband is a Coast Guardsman assigned to the USCGC Mohawk, a 270-foot cutter based in Key West. The couple was relocating to U.S. government housing at the nearby Naval Air Station.
An online database that tracks ship movements shows that the Mohawk has been docked in its home port since mid-March. According to a media release dated March 16, the ship recently returned from a 70-day deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean to intercept drug shipments.
In a statement, the Navy stated that it “fully cooperated with federal law enforcement authorities in this matter.” We take security and access to naval installations very seriously.