NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - ICE agents in New Orleans detained the wife of a Marine veteran, while her husband says they were following the rules to get her green card.Court records show she had a final order of removal, which her family says she didn’t know about, and she is now being held at a detention facility in Monroe.“You know I gave up the best five years, you know. People thought the best years of your life, your college years. I went and spent that in the military. At the very least, I would like to be able to keep my wife,” said Adrian Clouatre.Clouatre was serving in the Marine Corps when he met his wife, Paola, in Palm Springs, California, in 2022.The two fell in love, and when Clouatre left the Marines, he moved back home to Prairieville with his wife.Now, the couple has a 1-year-old son and a 9-week-old daughter who is still nursing.“She’s just an amazing person,” Clouatre said. “I was getting separated from the Marine Corps, and I really didn’t know what the next steps were in my life. I met her and she changed my whole outlook on life. She’s been great. Always a positive energy to have around. She’s a great mother, constantly pushes me to do better.”The two began the process of obtaining a green card for her.Clouatre says Paola immigrated with her mother from Mexico in 2014, when she was a minor.In the years that followed, they became estranged.On May 27, Clouatre and his wife had a green card interview in New Orleans.But just days before, they say they found out there was a final order of removal issued by a judge in California in 2018, after her mother missed an immigration hearing.That order applied to Paola’s entire family.“One of the questions was ‘Do you have a removal order pending against you?’ Instead of lying, and being like ‘no,’ my wife said ‘yes, we just found out about this last week. We have a lawyer and we’re working to get it removed,” Clouatre said. “He said ‘okay’ and went to speak to his supervisor. Came back like everything was fine, finished the interview. Told us to wait in the lobby for paperwork regarding our next appointment. We sat out there for like 20 minutes, and then three ICE agents showed up. They just detained my wife.”She is now being held at Richwood Correctional Facility in Monroe.Clouatre says he drives three and a half hours twice a week so the kids can visit their mother and the baby can nurse.“That’s my best friend and my wife. I know I’m going to get her back no matter what. Whether all legal process in this country fails, and I have to reimmigrate her through Mexico. Or if I have to move to Mexico, I will. But, I have hope I can get her back. I’ve been trying to stay strong, especially for the kids.”Carey Holliday, a former immigration judge and the family’s attorney, says Paola’s detention goes against policy that protects military families.“The guy spent five years in the Marine Corps, and this is how Uncle Sam repays him, by deporting his wife. It’s almost ludicrous to think of,” Holliday said.Holliday points to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to grant “parole in place” to the spouses of active-duty service members and veterans.“Section 1758 of the National Defense Authorization bill of 2020 codified the rule that the Secretary of DHS has the power to give parole in place to the spouses of veterans and active-duty service members,” he said. “That is regularly granted, okay? It should have been done in this case.”Holliday says the immigration judge in California can undo the deportation order, and that often it is undone in cases like this.He also says the blanket approach of mass arrests is how people get caught up when they are trying to do the right thing.“Trump, let’s face it, he was elected to do what he’s doing,” Holliday added. “But, there needs to be exceptions made.”Holliday also says that since Paola was a child when she was brought to the United States, her case should get another look.Clouatre says he is not angry at the ICE agents for following orders, like he did when he was a Marine, but he just wants his family whole again.“We go out and we do a job for this country. We come back and I the least they can do is let me keep my wife.”“I just want my wife back, my kids want their mom back.”We reached out to the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office for comment and were referred to ICE.When contacted, ICE officials said they may provide an update on Clouatre’s case tomorrow.The family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover legal expenses.See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.Copyright 2025 WVUE. All rights reserved.