DHS Refutes ICE Arrests at Marine Grad Events

Annie Yaritza Ramos Alvarado, the wife of a U.S. soldier who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, was released Tuesday as the Trump administration continued efforts to deport her.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Ramos was arrested April 2 and “has no legal status to be in this country.” A department spokesperson said ICE detained her “after she attempted to enter a military base.”

Ramos was at Fort Polk, Louisiana, with her husband and relatives to register as a military spouse and move in, Blank’s mother, Jen Rickling, told ABC News. Rickling said ICE agents entered the facility and detained her.

The DHS spokesperson said Ramos, who was born in Honduras, entered the United States in early 2005 when she was less than 2 years old and was in the country illegally. Attorney Jessie Schreier told ABC News that Ramos was 20 months old when she was issued an order of removal. Schreier did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DHS said Ramos was released under an order of supervision with a GPS monitor while she undergoes further removal proceedings and that she would receive full due process.

ICE has been central to Trump’s immigration enforcement and deportation efforts. Rights groups have criticized those efforts, saying they violate free speech and due process rights and raise concerns about racial profiling. Trump has said the actions are intended to curb illegal immigration and improve domestic security. The effort has faced court challenges.

“All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby,” Ramos said.

“I never imagined that trying to do the right thing — registering my wife so she could receive her military ID, access the benefits she is entitled to as my spouse, and begin the process toward her green card — would lead to her being taken away from me,” her husband said after her arrest.

Two Marines assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni were indicted on charges tied to multiple alleged thefts in Japan, according to U.S. military and Japanese authorities.

Prosecutors in “various prefectures” charged Cpl. Malik Lewis and Lance Cpl. Damien Helms with offenses including trespassing, larceny, attempted larceny, and being an accomplice to larceny, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman Maj. Joseph Butterfield said.

Lewis, 26, and Helms, 20, are flight equipment technicians with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12, part of Marine Aircraft Group 12. They are in Marine Corps custody, Butterfield said.

According to a Feb. 17 news release from Iwakuni city, prosecutors alleged the Marines used a stolen key to enter businesses in Kabukicho, a nightlife district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward, and stole about $170 in cash between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Dec. 24. Tokyo police referred the case to prosecutors on Feb. 13, the release said.

The Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office also indicted both men on March 24 on charges of trespassing, larceny, and attempted larceny, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. She declined to provide details.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that prosecutors alleged the pair broke into six restaurants in Nakasu, a nightlife district in Fukuoka city, on the morning of Dec. 20 and stole cash worth about $2,652.

Lewis was also indicted March 5 by the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office, according to Sankei Shimbun. Authorities alleged he broke into a business in Hiroshima city’s Naka ward on Dec. 18 and stole about $1,452 in cash. He also allegedly tried to steal items from another business but fled after a security alarm sounded, Sankei reported.

Yomiuri Shimbun reported March 17 that police in Yamaguchi prefecture referred a case against Lewis for allegedly breaking into a business and attempting to steal cash on the night of Dec. 18. As of Tuesday, prosecutors had not decided whether to indict in that case, a spokesman said.

Butterfield said the Marines were “actively working” with Japanese authorities.

“Under our Status of Forces Agreement, the Government of Japan has primary criminal jurisdiction. We will continue to make the Marines available for all required judicial process proceedings and will closely monitor the proceedings without interfering in the Japanese judicial process,” he wrote.

The Marine Corps said monthly Family Separation Allowance rose from $250 to $300 under MARADMIN 150/26, released April 1, 2026.

The increase stemmed from the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act and applied retroactively to Dec. 18, 2025, when the law took effect. The Marine Corps said the Marine Corps Total Force System made the change automatically, so eligible Marines did not need to file additional paperwork.

The higher rate covered all three categories of the allowance: restricted movement, shipboard, and temporary duty. Service members qualified when orders kept them away from dependents for more than 30 days and prevented family travel at government expense. The allowance was prorated daily after that threshold, or about $10 a day at the new rate.

Marines married to other service members could receive the allowance if the couple lived together before the separation. The payment was in addition to basic pay, housing allowance, and other entitlements.

For a six-month deployment, the increase amounted to $300 more than under the previous rate. Over a full year of qualifying service, the difference totaled $600.

The change could affect Marines on deployments, ship rotations, and extended training assignments, including those in the Pacific. It could also apply more often in some Exceptional Family Member Program cases, when dependents cannot relocate and restricted-movement eligibility is triggered.

The Marine Corps said disbursing offices and administrative sections would verify payments for periods on or after Dec. 18, 2025. Marines who believed they qualified during the retroactive period but had not received the adjustment were advised to contact their unit administrative office or the Manpower Plans and Policy point of contact listed in the MARADMIN.

For new separations, Marines will submit DD Form 1561 through their chain of command after the 30-day mark, and the payment will process at the higher rate.

The article said Congress had authorized a larger increase to $400 two years earlier, but the Defense Department kept the rate at $250 until the 2026 NDAA required the $300 amount. The new rate will remain in effect unless future legislation or Defense Department policy changes it.

An eighth Jane Doe filed an $8 million administrative complaint Tuesday against the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency, alleging that former Dr. Blaine McGraw sexually abused her during medical appointments at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu.

The complaint was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act by Sanford Heisler, the law firm that in December 2025 filed seven similar complaints on behalf of Jane Does 1-7. Those complaints alleged McGraw sexually abused patients at Tripler and at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas.

Under the law, people must first file an administrative complaint with the federal agency they accuse of wrongdoing. After a six-month period for the agency to investigate, they may sue in federal court.

McGraw, an obstetrician-gynecologist, already faced criminal charges tied to allegations that he secretly recorded dozens of female patients in the military medical system. On Dec. 9, 2025, the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said it had preferred four charges and 61 specifications against McGraw while he was assigned to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center. The charges included 54 specifications of indecent visual recording, five specifications of conduct unbecoming an officer, one specification of willful disobedience of a superior officer, and one specification of making a false official statement.

According to the newly filed complaint, Jane Doe 8 sought care from McGraw at Tripler after trying to establish a relationship with a new obstetrician-gynecologist. The complaint alleged McGraw performed unnecessary breast and abdominal exams at multiple appointments, did not ask whether she wanted a chaperone, remained in the room while she undressed, placed his hand on her upper thigh during every visit, and commented on “how good” her breasts looked.

“His comments struck me as sexual in nature rather than medical, and made me feel exposed, objectified and unsafe in what should have been a professional, medical setting,” the complaint said.