Where is our country’s respect for those who’ve served when Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre’s wife’s routine appointment ends in unexpected ICE detention?
At a Glance
- Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre’s wife, Paola, was detained by ICE during a routine green card appointment in May.
- Paola’s arrest stems from a previously unknown 2018 deportation order linked to her mother’s failed asylum case.
- The detention highlights a shift in policy, removing previous discretion afforded to military families.
- The family, including a nearly two-year-old son and a three-month-old breastfeeding daughter, has been separated.
A Routine Appointment, A Family Shattered
Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre is living a nightmare. His wife, Paola Clouatre, was abruptly detained by ICE during a May 27 green card appointment in New Orleans. According to The Independent, the arrest was triggered by a seven-year-old deportation order Paola was unaware of, issued after her estranged mother failed to appear at an immigration hearing years ago.
Paola, who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, is now being held in a detention center in Monroe, Louisiana. The sudden separation has been devastating for the family. Adrian is left to care for their two young children alone—a nearly two-year-old son who asks for his mother every night, and their three-month-old daughter, whom Paola was still breastfeeding.
“A Hell of a Way to Treat a Veteran”
The Clouatres’ story highlights a harsh shift in immigration enforcement that no longer spares military families. Discretionary protections like “parole in place,” designed to help service members’ families, are being bypassed as the administration cracks down. Adrian, who served five years in the Marines, expressed his disbelief.
“I’m all for ‘get the criminals out of the country,’ right? But the people that are here working hard, especially the ones married to Americans — I mean, that’s always been a way to secure a green card,” he said.
Their lawyer, former immigration judge Carey Holliday, was more blunt: “It’s just a hell of a way to treat a veteran. You take their wives and send them back to Mexico?”
A System Without Compassion
Despite the family’s circumstances, the Department of Homeland Security remains unmoved. In a statement reported by MSNBC and other outlets, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Paola Clouatre “is in the country illegally” and that the department is “not going to ignore the rule of law.”
This rigid stance reflects a system that critics argue prioritizes enforcement quotas over common sense and compassion. The Clouatres had been diligently following the legal process to secure Paola’s residency when their lives were upended. Her lawyer has filed a motion to reopen the old deportation case, but the family remains in limbo, separated by bureaucracy.
The case serves as a stark warning to other military families who may have once believed their service provided a shield of protection. As Adrian Clouatre comforts his children with the words, “Mama will be back soon,” one can only hope it becomes a truth rather than a hollow promise from a country that seems to have forgotten its obligation to those who have served.
