The sister of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan says her widower is using their 12-year-old daughter to gain sympathy over his recent deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sister, Guadalupe Vieyra, said in a written statement that her former brother-in-law, Jose Arturo Gonzalez Carranza, has had an “extremely minimal” presence in her niece’s life, as she has always been in the care of her grandparents. “I am appalled by the way her father has been using the media and social media to gain sympathy,” Vieyra wrote. “His legal status has nothing to do with my sister or my niece and they should not be used to resolve his personal matters.”

The girl’s mother, Barbara Vieyra, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. Barbara Vieyra was married to Gonzalez Carranza, who was deported last week to Mexico by immigration authorities, and then allowed to return. His deportation drew outrage, in part because of his daughter. “While we have always encouraged her to get to know her father, his presence in her life has always been, to this day, extremely minimal,” Vieyra wrote.