The wife of a U.S. citizen in Alaska has been deported to Mexico with her two youngest children, while her 18-year-old son remains held at the Anchorage jail.

Immigration advocates say the detention and deportation of the Soldotna woman’s youngest son, a 5-year-old boy, indicates a shift to harsher tactics being used by ICE in Alaska.

Sonia Espinoza Arriaga came to Alaska around 2023 and applied for asylum from violence in her home state of Jalisco. She met Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, who was born in Seward and is part of the family that opened Don Jose’s Mexican Restaurant, while they were both working in the Soldotna area. They married on Feb. 4.

Espinoza Arriaga missed one hearing in her asylum case, in January. A letter sent to the family said it would be 90 days before any immigration action would happen, and she was in regular contact with an attorney in her case.

But on Tuesday morning, masked federal agents pulled Espinoza Arriaga out of her vehicle and detained her along with her three children – ages 5, 16 and 18. By late that night, all but the eldest child were on a plane.

“I think this case means a major departure from previous norms here,” said Lara Nations, an immigration attorney who is representing the family.

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(📷: Bill Roth / ADN, and courtesy of Alexander Sanchez-Ramos and Lara Nations; ✍️: Michelle Theriault Boots / ADN)