A 21-year-old Lebanese woman has accused an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent at a Texas detention facility of sexually assaulting her and offering to help her get a green card in exchange for sex, a claim denied by the US officials.

The woman, Rahaf Ali Almerhij, who goes by Lucy Wise and agreed to be identified, claimed that the ICE deportation officer, Markell Wallace, took her into an isolated, self-locking room at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, and touched her sexually without her consent.

In an interview with Newsweek, Almerhij also alleged that he threatened her husband with imprisonment and deportation if she refused his advances.

"He told me, 'I'm going to give you a green card,'" she said.

She said the officer also told her that her husband "is an old guy" and "can't do anything to you".

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She recounted that Wallace told her, "I'm the one that can help you."

Almerhij, who was arrested near the Rio Grande Valley in February after the officials said she entered the US illegally from Montreal in August 2024, said the alleged assault took place after her former attorney withdrew from her immigration case in April 2026, leaving her without legal representation.

She said Wallace called her in to discuss her case ahead of an interview with other investigators, and then took her to a small, isolated room inside El Valle.

"I Told Him To Stop"

According to Newsweek, Almerhij, in a sworn declaration provided to the DHS, described a room with a small table where she and Wallace were alone.

She said that Wallace "put his hand inside my pants and inserted his finger," then "pulled down my pants and underwear until the lower part of my body was naked," and "began to lower his own pants."

"I did not consent to any of this; I refused and told him to stop," she said in her sworn declaration.

"I was a detainee, and he was the officer who had influence over my case, my release, and my medical care, and I did not feel that I could refuse to go with him or leave the room," she added.

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She said that Wallace used his position and her immigration status to pressure her, and suggested he could help secure her release and offered a green card.

She said he also gave her his phone number and offered to travel to Mexico if she changed her mind.

"I feel like all my life has been destroyed," she said.

"Could Not Protect Her"

Almerhij's husband, Sam Wise, said he first learned about the assault in late August, months after she had left ICE custody. He said he discovered what had happened through a friend to whom Almerhij had confided.

He said Almerhij had kept it from him because she feared being blamed or shamed, or that he would leave her.

"I am heartbroken and angry," he told Newsweek.

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"I carry guilt that I could not protect her, and pain that she suffered alone and in silence for months. But the shame is his, not hers. I am proud of her courage, and I will never leave her," he added.

Wise said she was attending Texas A&M University and pursuing nursing, and that she was employed as the general manager at his dental clinic.

Almerhij, who was granted voluntary departure on May 1, currently lives in Mexico, while her husband, a lawful permanent resident, remains in Texas.

"FALSE Allegations"

ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, rejected the allegations.

"Allegations of misconduct at El Valle Detention Facility are FALSE," a DHS spokesperson told Newsweek.

"Incidents of misconduct are treated with the utmost seriousness and investigated thoroughly. When substantiated, appropriate action is taken," the spokesperson added.