On a late September afternoon in 2025, what should have been a routine family visit to Camp Pendleton, California, took a heart-wrenching turn for the Rios family. Esteban Rios and Luisa Rodriguez, longtime residents of Oceanside, California, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while picking up their pregnant daughter, Ashley Rios, and her husband, who is also a Marine. For months, the couple had made these weekend trips to the base, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild. But this visit, as reported by NBC 7 San Diego and corroborated by multiple outlets including the Associated Press and Newsweek, ended in a way none of them could have imagined.
According to Steve Rios, their son and a Marine reservist himself, his parents had come to the United States from Mexico over 30 years ago. They had spent decades working long hours cleaning cars and houses, striving to give their children a better life. “It was just making them proud, right? I’ve seen all the struggles they’ve gone through,” Steve told NBC 7 San Diego. “The least I could do, right, and serve this country and try to, you know, put some time in. I don’t think amounts to what they’ve done.”
Steve said he joined the Marines straight out of high school, inspired by his parents’ sacrifices. But the family’s hopes for a stable future were complicated by their immigration status. Esteban and Luisa had pending green card and work visa applications, sponsored by Steve, and no criminal record. Despite their efforts to regularize their status, they were swept up in a wave of intensified immigration enforcement under the Trump administration’s second term.
The day of the incident, Esteban and Luisa were stopped at the Camp Pendleton gate by base security and held for ICE agents. After several hours in custody, they were released with ankle monitors and instructed to check in with ICE later that week. Steve recounted the anxiety of that moment, telling NBC 7, “I just kept on looking at my parents. I didn’t know if it would be the last time I’d see them.”
When the family complied with the check-in appointment, the situation escalated. Steve drove his parents to the federal building in downtown San Diego, where they waited for hours before being detained again. Esteban was wearing a red shirt and a white hat, both emblazoned with the words “Proud dad of a US Marine.” Steve recalled his father’s optimism, “He said, ‘Yeah, this is my lucky shirt, so we’ll be fine.’” But the outcome was anything but lucky. Esteban was deported on October 10, 2025. The fate of Luisa Rodriguez remains uncertain.
The emotional toll on the family has been immense. Ashley, Steve’s younger sister, described the moment she learned of her parents’ detention. “My brother texted me that they got stopped. And as soon as I heard that, I just started bawling,” she shared with NBC 7, fighting back tears. Now expecting her first child, Ashley said, “It’s just hard because you just want to hear your parents’ voices and know everything will be OK. I’d always want my mom in that delivery room and everything, so it’s hard not to think about them.”
The Rios family’s ordeal is not unique. According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown has increasingly affected military families. In June, a Louisiana Marine veteran’s wife was detained while nursing their newborn, and in July, a U.S. Army veteran was arrested during an immigration raid at his workplace. These incidents have raised concerns about the impact of immigration enforcement on those who serve the country—and their loved ones.
The Marine Corps has long been seen by some as a path to stability for families without legal status. However, that perception has shifted. As the Associated Press reported, Marine Corps recruiters have been advised not to suggest that military service can secure immigration relief for applicants or their families. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, stated, “People who break the law would face consequences.” The agency has emphasized that all individuals who violate U.S. immigration laws, regardless of nationality or family connections, may be subject to arrest, detention, and removal if found removable by a final order.
The broader context for the Rios family’s experience is a surge in immigration enforcement during President Trump’s second term. Human Rights First, a nonprofit group, noted that September 2025 saw at least 1,464 immigration enforcement flights—the highest monthly total on record, averaging 49 flights per day. The Department of Homeland Security boasted in late September that over two million illegal aliens had been removed or had self-deported since January 2025, with 1.6 million leaving voluntarily and 400,000 removed by authorities. Critics, including Human Rights First, have raised significant due process concerns about the legality and fairness of these mass enforcement actions.
For the Rios family, the consequences have been deeply personal. Steve and Ashley describe their parents as hardworking, law-abiding members of their community who had never been in trouble with the law. Their story has drawn attention to the collateral damage of the administration’s immigration policies, particularly on families with members serving in the military. “It was scary because my whole life, I’ve kind of just, it’s been in the back of my head,” Steve admitted in his interview with NBC 7.
ICE, for its part, maintains that its actions are part of routine operations. A spokesperson told NBC 7, “As part of its routine operations, ICE arrests aliens who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws. All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States, regardless of nationality.”
The Rios family’s story has resonated with many, highlighting the emotional and practical challenges faced by mixed-status families—especially those with members in the armed forces. As Steve and Ashley try to navigate the uncertainty ahead, their faith and resilience remain sources of strength. “They might get sent back. They might not,” Steve reflected. “The only person that knows is up there.”
In a time of heightened enforcement and political debate over immigration, the Rios family’s experience offers a sobering look at the real lives affected by policy decisions, far beyond statistics and headlines.
