Bradley Bartell thought he was returning home from a dream honeymoon. Instead, his wife was taken away in handcuffs. Yet despite his world being turned upside down, he insists: “I don’t regret the vote.”
Bartell and his wife, Camila Muñoz, were flying back to Wisconsin from a long-awaited honeymoon in Puerto Rico when ICE agents stopped Muñoz at the airport. The Peruvian native, who had initially come to the U.S. on a work-study visa in 2019, had overstayed her permit due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. She was in the process of obtaining permanent residency when agents detained her on the spot, according to USA Today and Newsweek.
Despite the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants, Bartell—who voted for Trump—remains firm in his support. “I don’t regret the vote,” he told Newsweek, even as his wife now sits in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.
A Honeymoon That Ended in Handcuffs
Muñoz, who has no criminal history, was separated from her husband and taken into custody in February. The ordeal left Bartell scrambling for answers. For nearly a week, he had no idea where his wife was being held. When he finally located her through ICE’s online detainee system, he felt powerless. “They know who she is and where she came from,” he told USA Today, frustrated by the bureaucratic maze keeping her locked up.
Now, he’s fighting to bring her home. He launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal fees and the staggering $10,000 bond needed for her release. The fundraiser has already raised nearly $3,000, but the battle is far from over.
Love, Marriage, and an Uncertain Future
Bartell and Muñoz met while she was working in the U.S. and later reconnected on Facebook. Their love story led to a proposal, a wedding, and dreams of starting a family. She had embraced his 12-year-old son as her own, and they were saving to buy a home together. But now, their future hangs in the balance.
Faced with the real possibility of deportation, Bartell has even considered moving to Peru to be with his wife. “It has crossed my mind,” he admitted to Newsweek, though he worries about uprooting his son’s life.
‘Trump Didn’t Create This System—But He Can Fix It’
Even as Bartell wrestles with the fallout of his wife’s arrest, he doesn’t blame Trump for the system that led to her detention. Instead, he hopes the attention on his case will highlight flaws in the immigration process. “[Trump] didn’t create the system,” he said, “but he does have an opportunity to improve it.”
His words come as ICE continues its surge in deportations. According to Newsweek, the agency carried out over 28,000 deportations in the first seven weeks of Trump’s administration.
As Muñoz remains behind bars, Bartell can only wait—and hope—that the system he once supported will show mercy to the woman he loves. PEOPLE has reached out to ICE for comment.
