Newlyweds Bradley Bartell and Sylvia Camilla Muñoz-Lira saw their marital bliss come crashing to a halt when the bride was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after their honeymoon.
The couple were travelling home to Wisconsin from their belated honeymoon in Puerto Rico when Muñoz-Lira was taken into custody.
Speaking to the New York Post, Bartell said: “It was kind of like a slap in the face.
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“I was in shock and unsure what to do at the time. It was terrible.”
He claimed it was a week before he heard from his wife and found out where she was actually being held - Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana.
Muñoz-Lira, who is from Peru, had overstayed her J-1 visa – a ‘nonimmigrant’ visa for individuals ‘approved to participate in exchange visitor programs in the United States’.
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She had secured the temporary visa in 2019 after being accepted to a work-study programme in Wisconsin, but was unable to return to Peru the following year when the pandemic limited travel.
Instead, Muñoz-Lira chose to continue working in the US, going on to meet now-husband Bartell.
Shortly after getting married, she filed paperwork to obtain legal citizenship, with US Citizenship and Immigration Services confirming that her case was under review.
Bartell said they thought it was safe to travel to a US territory while her application was pending.
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“She’s worried because there’s a lot of uncertainty in how this is all going down,” he continued.
“She’s calmed down a little now that we have an attorney giving us an idea of how the process is going to go. But we still haven’t gotten a court date.”
Bartell is a Trump supporter – and stresses his political views haven’t shifted after what’s happened.
“I still support our president,” he said, although he did wonder if the government was prepared for the influx of detainees.
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“It’s kind of a tough slope. I just feel they need to get stuff moving on this because they’re holding a lot of people and it’s costing the taxpayers money. It’s taking a long time to even get dates set for people to speak with judges.”
Bartell admitted he initially assumed Trump’s administration would only deport immigrants with a criminal history, or those who had crossed the border illegally.
“It’s gone a little farther than that,” he said. “They’re just grabbing anyone they can."
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He added: “Me, personally, I’m happy to have anyone who wants to come here and have a good life and live responsibly, but there is a problem with letting gangsters come here too."
Bartell has now set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his wife’s legal fees.
“This money will be used for legal support and the bond money for my wife,” he explained in the page’s description.
“Any and all support is deeply appreciated.
“On top of the lawyer fees, I have been informed that the bond could run upwards of 10k.”
Jess Hardiman