An ICE officer has been accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Lebanese woman at a Texas immigration detention facility after allegedly offering to help her obtain a Green Card in exchange for sex. According to a Newsweek report, the woman, identified as Rahaf Ali Almerhij, who also goes by Lucy Wise, alleged that ICE deportation officer Markell Wallace sexually assaulted her while she was detained at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas. She has also accused him of threatening to have her husband arrested and deported if she refused his advances.The allegations were detailed in a sworn declaration submitted to the DHS Office of Inspector General.Almerhij said Wallace took her into an isolated room at the detention facility, where he allegedly touched her sexually without her consent. She claimed he offered to help her secure permanent legal status in the US in return for sexual favours and gave her his personal phone number.“I did not consent to any of this; I refused and told him to stop,” she said in her declaration.DHS has denied the allegations. A department spokesperson told Newsweek that the claims of misconduct at the facility were false, while adding that allegations of misconduct were treated seriously and investigated when substantiated.
Woman says ICE officer threatened to deport her husband
Almerhij alleged that Wallace also threatened to have her husband, Sam Wise, jailed and deported if she refused his advances. Wise is a US lawful permanent resident and lives in Texas. She said she did not disclose the alleged sexual assault while she was in detention because she feared retaliation. Her husband said he learnt about the alleged incident in late August.Almerhij and her husband had previously raised concerns about her treatment at the detention centre, including allegations involving inadequate eye care and privacy violations. One complaint claimed that male employees could see female detainees while they were naked.On October 9, Wise filed sexual misconduct complaints with four DHS and ICE oversight offices. Almerhij submitted a sworn declaration the following day. On October 23, she met investigators from the DHS Office of Inspector General at a border crossing in Mission, Texas, and handed over a 59-page handwritten diary that she had maintained during her detention.According to DHS, Border Patrol arrested Almerhij on February 19, 2026. The department said she had entered the United States illegally in August 2024. Her husband said she had been studying nursing at Texas A&M University before her detention. She was granted voluntary departure on May 1 and has since left the United States for Mexico.
