Military Vets deported to Mexico

Deported Vietnam combat veteran Hector Barrios sits in his Tijuana apartment.

Vets banned for life from the United States



KPBS News reports on American military veterans being deported to Mexico.

Hector Barajas now lives in a rundown apartment in Rosarito, Mexico. 

After growing up in Compton, California, Barajas served for seven years in the U.S Army's 82nd Airborne Division. He had a green card, and was proud to serve what he considered to be his country.

Now, Barajas says, he never imagined he'd be banned for life from the United States.

"I was a legal resident when I entered the military in 1995," he said. "I got out in 2001 with two honorable discharges. I was under the impression that I was a U.S. citizen automatically because of the recruiters."


US Veterans 'Banished' To Mexico
How many U.S. veterans are deported each year? No one knows, but a group of "banished veterans" in Mexico are trying to help.

Though military service can speed up the process of becoming a citizen, it's not automatic. Barajas got into trouble after leaving the military, and was convicted for discharging a firearm into a vehicle.

He served a 3-year prison sentence. Because he had a green card, the conviction meant that he was subject to mandatory deportation.

If he had been a U.S. citizen, Barajas would have walked free after serving his time. Instead, he was taken into ICE custody, brought across the border, and dropped off in Tijuana.

His family remained behind in California.

Fabian Rebolledo, Kosovo combat veteran with the
Army's 82nd Airborne division, stands with
former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen.
Rebolledo has since been deported.

Barajas decided to use his cramped living quarters as a makeshift drop-in shelter, which quickly became the headquarters of the growing organization "Banished Veterans."

Fabian Rebolledo, 36, is a recent arrival to Mexico. He's a Kosovo combat vet and former Army paratrooper. Rebolledo arrived just four months ago, after spending twenty-four years in Los Angeles.

"My deportation was due to a violation of probation," he said. "It was due to a insufficient funds check. Seven hundred fifty dollars."

Like Barajas, Rebolledo thought that military service would protect him.

"I was a legal resident," he said. "And actually, I joined the military because I wanted to become a citizen. I was going to be the first member of my family to become a citizen."

But before the bad check, Rebolledo had two DUI convictions. Although his crimes were nonviolent, they were still enough to ban him from the U.S. for the rest of his life.

Hector and his fellow banned veterans would like to see some judicial discretion come into play in these cases, taking military service into account.

For the full article:   KPBS News

American military vets are being deported to Mexico.
Veterans banned from the US would like to see some judicial discretion come into play in these cases, taking military service into account.