U.S. Army Reserve Black Hawk pilot Chris Busby, 28, and Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez, 25, obtained their marriage certificate at an Austin courthouse on December 3.
Approximately 48 hours later, Velasquez entered a Houston Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office for a routine check-in and was subsequently detained. Busby has expressed concerns regarding this development.
Busby, who enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2015, has spent six weeks seeking his wife's release from detention. Despite his military service and their recent marriage, Velasquez was denied bond on January 9, as confirmed by her lawyer.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment regarding the case, and the Department of Justice declined to comment.
Velasquez arrived in the United States in 2021 from Venezuela, seeking to escape violence and political instability. She has no criminal record and presented herself to immigration officials in Miami upon her arrival. At the time of her detention, Velasquez had an asylum case pending.
While residing in Austin, Velasquez worked at a local car wash and pursued classes for a real estate license. She met Busby in March. Her brother, Oscar, described her as ambitious and driven, noting her aspirations to start her own company.
The family had expressed concerns about Velasquez being subject to immigration crackdowns, even with her pending asylum case and marriage. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled their country's crisis, seeking asylum or other protections like Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the U.S. Former President Trump moved to revoke TPS for many Venezuelans, a policy that has progressed amidst legal challenges.
Velasquez was transferred to the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, approximately three hours from Austin. Busby reported that her hair has thinned since detention and she sleeps fitfully in a bunk bed with 80 other women, sharing seven tablets for communication. Visitors are allowed once per week, and the food is described as barely edible.
The couple is exploring the military's Parole in Place program, which offers legal protections for non-U.S. citizen spouses of military members. However, recent changes, including a 2024 court ruling, have impacted the program's scope, and an initiative called 'Keeping Families Together' has ended. The Department of Homeland Security's website for the initiative states it is no longer accepting or adjudicating applications, with no immediate clarification on its applicability to spouses.