Dallas man pleads for wife’s release after ICE detention during immigration check-in

Dallas man pleads for wife’s ICE detention release

A Dallas man is pleading for his Cuban wife's release after she was detained by ICE during a green card interview, despite having no criminal record beyond immigration violations.

DALLAS - ICE maintains it’s primarily targeting criminals, especially violent ones. One detainee does not exactly fit the DHS’s narrative. 

ICE detention at immigration interview

Local perspective:

In 2023, Jason Quiroga met the woman who’d become his wife. Niury Guerra was from Cuba, living in Miami, but visiting family in Dallas. The two dated long-distance before making a forever commitment in North Texas.

"You know my wife is not from here, she’s from Cuba," said Quiroga.

"And she told me that she just wanted a simple life. You know, before she moved, I said, ‘Look, you live in Miami. There are beaches, it's beautiful weather,' I live in Dallas, and it’s extremely hot, and sometimes it’s extremely cold and then there are no beaches, and she just said, ‘I want to be with you and I want to start a life with you.’"

In 2024, they married and had a baby girl, Niah, now 15-months-old. The next step was to get her green card.

"I have a petition filed for her. We’re married, I’m a U.S. citizen, we have a child together, a 1-year-old. She’s a caregiver for my father, who’s a veteran," said Quiroga.

Earlier this month, however, Guerra was arrested by ICE while checking in for a scheduled appointment in Dallas. 

"We’ve been to every hearing. We’ve been to every check-in," said the husband.

Immigration violations and past removal

What they're saying:

An ICE spokesperson says Guerra was "previously removed" after attempting to "enter the United States under a fraudulent Peruvian passport" in 2018. 

It says Guerra "illegally re-entered through the southwest border on August 9, 2022, a felony offense."

There’s no record of Guerra committing crimes after illegally entering the U.S.

"Why is it happening? She’s not a criminal, not by any means," said Quiroga.

 "I don’t know what to do."

For now, all Quiroga can do is share his family’s story, hoping for grace.

"We need an act of God, and we have a lot of faith and I still have some hope, but it sure is hard to be that protector when, ultimately, I have no idea where this story’s going to end," he said.

What’s next for Niury Guerra?

What's next:

Guerra is being held at a detention center about 200 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth.