Immigrant Soldiers Serve Country, Still Face Deportation

by Julianne Hing
ColorLines
Monday, October 25 2010

It jars the mind: immigrants who put their lives on the line, served in wars from Korea to Kosovo, and are being rewarded for their service by being deported from the United States. How can it be? And yet, many are.

The AP’s Juliana Barbassa reports that an estimated 4,000 immigrant veterans are facing deportation or have already been deported because of criminal convictions. Barbassa profiles Rohan Coombs, a 43-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. Marine who fell on hard times after he came back from serving in the Persian Gulf in the first Iraq war. Coombs was convicted of selling pot to an undercover cop in 2008, when he was working as a bouncer outside a club. He’s facing deportation now to a country he left when he was a child.

“If I had died,” Coombs tells Barbassa, “they would have made me a citizen, given me a military funeral, and given the flag to my mom. But I didn’t die. Here I am. I just want another chance.”

Barbassa reports that around 8,000 legal residents enlist in the military every year, and currently there are almost 17,000 people who are not citizens on active duty. Undocumented immigrants are barred from serving in the military.

A set of laws passed by Congress in 1996 made immigrants convicted of a class of so-called “aggravated felonies”—any crime where the possible jail sentence was two years—deportable. Under this new designation, “aggravated felonies” for immigration purposes could be crimes that are not actually felonies in criminal law. For the majority of people, the law was crystal clear: no judicial discretion, no second chances. Even if they arrived in the country as kids and don’t speak the language of the country they’re being sent to. Even if they had since rebuilt their lives and gotten themselves back on track. Even if they are U.S. military.

CNN recently profiled a pair of brothers in their fifties named Manuel and Valente Valenzuela who are facing deportation for convictions that are years old. One was convicted on domestic violence charges eleven years ago, another for resisting arrest 25 years ago. People serve time for their criminal convictions, and then face a second punishment all over again with deportation. The story is not uncommon, but it’s not often told.

While there are reports that the Obama administration is allowing some immigration judges to exercise discretion in a select few deportation cases, the vast majority do not get such treatment. Coombs and the Valenzuelas will be forced to leave the country unless the U.S. government steps in to halt their removal orders.

Among the millions of immigrants who’ve seen their families torn apart by deportation, criminal deportees’ stories’ don’t often lend themselves to easy storytelling or sympathy. Perhaps because of this, they’re neither as visible nor as outspoken in the mainstream immigrant rights movement. None of the policy options on the table in the current immigration reform debate would address the plight of criminal deportees.

Indeed, they’re the favored scapegoat of the immigrant rights discourse. The Obama administration has committed to cracking down on immigrants with criminal convictions on their records—hardened and dangerous criminals, the administration calls them. And deportations of people with criminal convictions are indeed up, as are deportations of those with no criminal history. The Obama administration deported 392,000 people in the last fiscal year, a record number of single-year removals.

Many who’ve been kicked out of the country, however, were convicted of minor, nonviolent crimes like shoplifting and pot possession. There are those, too, who are deported from the country and barred from re-entering because of domestic violence convictions, and even homicide.

Except everyone’s story is much more complicated than just the crimes they were convicted of, none more so than for immigrant vets.

That one person can be both valorous hero and convicted criminal—indeed that any person might have been convicted of a terrible crime and still deserve legal protection and the right to stay in the country with their families—messes with the story we’ve been told about who deserves to stay in the country and who doesn’t.

Our legal system gets similarly confused. The immigration system is not prepared to deal with these nuances, and the immigration laws no longer make allowance for complicated pasts and the full spectrum of human reality. Untold thousands of families have been torn apart as a result.

Barbassa reports that the U.S. government couldn’t give hard numbers on how many vets are deported every year, but will start tracking that. And, in a bit of hopeful news, immigrant vets facing similar fates may have an ally in Congress:

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is looking into potential changes to the law so immigrants who serve in the military can avoid deportation.

“You come back from Iraq or Afghanistan today, you have put yourself on the line for this country,” said Filner. “An incredible number of kids come back with an injury or illness that puts them in trouble with the law. To simply have these people deported is not a good way to thank them for their service."

http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/10/immigrant_vets_facing_deportation.html

Debate: Is DREAM Act a Solution for Millions of Undocumented Youth or a Funnel for Military Recruitment?

NPR
August 20, 2010

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act—DREAM—would allow undocumented young people a chance at citizenship provided they attend college for at least two years or enlist in the military. It’s been described as a dream come true for undocumented youth wanting a chance to stay in this country without the fear of deportation. But many antiwar activists warn that the bill will simply funnel more young people into the military. We host a debate between Camilo Mejía of Iraq Veterans Against the War and pro-DREAM activist Gaby Pacheco. [includes rush transcript]

Guests:

Gabriela Pacheco, twenty-five-year-old Ecuador-born student who grew up undocumented in Florida. Earlier this year, she and three other students who call themselves the "Trail of Dreams" walkers walked 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, DC, calling on the President to stop deportations.

Camilo Mejia, the first GI who served in Iraq to have publicly resisted the war and was imprisoned for refusing to go back for almost a year. He is the former chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

JUAN GONZALEZ: We turn now to a piece of legislation that many undocumented youth activists say could be a ticket to their dreams. It’s called the DREAM Act, or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Richard Lugar of Indiana. The bill would allow undocumented young people a chance at citizenship, provided they meet certain conditions related to age, residency and level of education. They would have to attend college for at least two years or enlist in the military. After graduating from college or completing their military service, the bill would allow them to obtain permanent residency with a chance to apply for US citizenship. If passed, the bill could immediately affect the lives of some 700,000 undocumented young people.

On Capitol Hill, the bill is supported by a number of key Democrats, but its supporters are divided over whether or not to link the DREAM Act to broader legislation around comprehensive immigration reform. Back when President Obama was on the campaign trail, at a debate with Hillary Clinton over two years ago, he outlined his support for passing the DREAM Act.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Something that we can do immediately that I think is very important is to pass the DREAM Act, which allows children who—who, no fault of their own, are here but have essentially grown up as Americans, allow them the opportunity for higher education. I do not want two classes of citizens in this country. I want everybody to prosper. That’s going to be a top priority.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s been described as a dream come true for undocumented youth wanting a chance to stay in this country without the fear of deportation. But not everyone who supports the rights of undocumented youth is happy about the proposed legislation. Many antiwar activists warn that the bill will simply funnel more young people into the military.

This is UC San Diego professor and anti-militarism advocate Jorge Mariscal.

JORGE MARISCAL: What one has to realize about the DREAM Act is that the military option wasn’t attached. The military option was there at the beginning. The Pentagon helped write the DREAM Act. That’s what people have to realize.

AMY GOODMAN: That clip excerpted from the report "Yo Soy El Army" by Marco Amador and Kouross Esmaeli of Big Noise Films.

Well, today we host a debate on the DREAM Act. Camilo is still with us, Camilo Mejía of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He opposes the DREAM Act. Also joining us from Miami, we are with pro-DREAM activist Gaby Pacheco. She’s twenty-five years old, student, who came to this country from Ecuador when she was seven. Earlier this year, she, along with three other students, took a four-month-long walk from Miami to Washington, DC, talking to people about their experience of growing up undocumented and urging the President to stop deportations. They called their walk the "Trail of Dreams."

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Gaby, let’s begin with you. Why do you support the DREAM Act?

GABRIELA PACHECO: Good morning, Amy.

Well, I think that fundamentally, when we look at the DREAM Act, it just gives opportunity for young people like myself and thousands of other young people throughout the nation to have an opportunity, a pathway, to be able to become a legal permanent resident. And, you know, this legislation has been, since 2001, up for debate. And unfortunately, we’ve been waiting for almost ten years, and nothing has happened. I agree and I support the DREAM Act, because for many, many years, many students, 65,000 every year, graduate and aren’t able to fulfill their dreams. The DREAM Act is going to give them an opportunity and a pathway to fulfill their dreams.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Gabriela, can you tell us a little bit about your personal experience and how it would affect you directly?

GABRIELA PACHECO: Yes. Well, I came to the United States when I was a young child. My parents brought me here. I grew up as an American. I went to elementary school, middle school and high school. And my aspirations have always been to be able to go to college and receive an education and become a musical therapist. Unfortunately, because of my status, I wasn’t able to do so. I did have the opportunity to go to college, and I’ve graduated with three degrees. I have a bachelor’s in special education. But unfortunately, because I don’t have a legal status as a resident, I’m not able to go to school and—I’m sorry, I’m not able to work and become a teacher and contribute to the society and this community, which I love.

AMY GOODMAN: Camilo, why are you opposed to the DREAM Act?

CAMILO MEJÍA: Well, Amy, I want to say that I commend all the people who are working for justice for undocumented youth and everybody else who wishes to attend higher education institutions in the United States.

My main problem with the DREAM Act is the military portion of it, which, in my opinion, is the main portion of the DREAM Act, because when you look at the 65,000 youth who graduate from high school every year in this country, you have to take into account that the vast majority of them are not going to have the English level required to gain access into a higher education institution. The military has an answer for that. The military has a language institute. The military can say, "If you don’t speak a word of English, you can join the military."

The DREAM Act also does not allow undocumented youth, who have applied to the DREAM Act and who qualify for the DREAM Act, to get Pell Grants or to get any kind of federal-based scholarships—only loans and work study, which is not sufficient to cover tuition. The military has the Montgomery GI Bill. The military, through the National Guard and the Reserves, has tuition waivers.

The DREAM Act does not include anything along the lines of financial stability, anything along the lines of healthcare, anything along the lines of housing, whereas the military has all of these things that it’s in a position to offer to the vast majority of these 65,000 students who graduate every year, to say, "Come over here. We will teach you English. We will give you housing. We’ll give you a steady paycheck. We’ll give you all these things, if you serve in the military."

The two-year option to serve in the military is also not a two-year option, because any military contract is eight years. No less than eight years. Whether it be a combination of two years of active service and eight years in the Reserves or four each or three and five, it doesn’t matter. It’s always eight years. And people are always subject to stop-loss.

On top of that, the DREAM Act does not grant residency. It grants conditional, temporary residency, which means that at any given point between the time that the person applies for the DREAM Act, there’s a period of six years when this person is not even eligible to apply for permanent residency and is subjected to be deported just like any other undocumented immigrant here.

In the case of people in the military, you have people going to Iraq or Afghanistan and coming back with post-traumatic stress disorder and getting into all kinds of trouble because they find a hard time to readjust to society. They get into drug-related problems, which is one of the offenses through which a person can be deported. Moral turpitude problems are very common with undocumented people, because this could be something as simple as using a fake ID or a fake Social Security number to be able to obtain work. So here you have the possibility of a person who is undocumented, graduates from high school in the United States, and does not have the ability to go to college, to be funneled into the military, serve in Iraq, come back possibly with amputations, possibly with post-traumatic stress disorder, come into the United States, not be a legal resident still, and commit a minor crime, a drug-related offense, forgery or whatever else that’s considered moral turpitude or a deportable violation, and after serving in Iraq, after having gone through all of that hell, come back here and still be deported. It gives the government the opportunity to take a pool of 65,000 kids who graduated high school in this country to send them into the military and, upon their return, still have the ability to very likely deport them. It’s a very draconian bill.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Camilo, let me bring in Gabriela Pacheco. Your response to that, that this might be, while it’s understandable your hopes and dreams about the DREAM Act, that it may be a way for the military to replenish its forces with Latino youth or with other immigrant youth?

GABRIELA PACHECO: Yes. Well, recently the Migration Policy report just came out saying that there is a large majority of undocumented youth that have applied for colleges and universities. In 2006, California alone had almost 2,000 students that were, even though undocumented, in college. The college provision in the DREAM Act says that you have the opportunity to be—to choose to either be able to go to the military or go to the college. And college is for two years only. I believe that a lot of the students that are graduating from high school, their desire is to go to college, and it’s what’s being proven right now. We have many, many undocumented youth, not only with associate’s degrees, but bachelor’s degrees and master’s and PhDs degrees, and this is just, you know, an opportunity for the students to be able to fulfill their dreams.

And as far as the military, I think that that’s an option. And I think that it’s up to us, the community and the people that are, you know, the activists, to tell these young people that are graduating every year, 65,000 of them, you know, like Camilo said, kids, to tell them there’s options, to tell them that, you know, if they stick to college for two years—and it doesn’t say that you have to go to the university or the college for the two years back to back. It says that in the six years that you are with your conditional residency, you have the opportunity to fulfill and finish those two years.

At the same time, the DREAM Act, with the conditional residency, you are going to be able to work. Students might be able to find ways to cost and pay for their college and university. As well, you are at risk, even if you are a legal permanent resident, for deportation. So the six years of provision would allow for the student to at least have some sort of status and have an opportunity to, those six years, find a pathway and, at the end, after they finish their two years of college, be able to become a legal permanent resident.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me play two young people, undocumented youth. They’re for and against the DREAM Act. This is Rishi Singh, who opposes the DREAM Act. He works with DRUM, or Desis Rising Up and Moving, in New York.

RISHI SINGH: Being undocumented, you know, you don’t really get the same amount of rights as other students. You know, I was the valedictorian of my high school, but because I was undocumented, I couldn’t get any financial aid or scholarships, and I couldn’t really go to the schools that I wanted to go to. Coming from immigrant communities, many of our families can’t afford to send us to college. And, you know, for many of our young people, there would be no other choice but to join the military. And for DRUM, you know, we come from a—we basically organize South Asian immigrant families, and we’ve seen, you know, how war affects our home countries, like in, you know, Pakistan, Afghanistan or other—you know, how the war on terror has affected us here in the US, but also in our home countries. So we don’t want, you know, young people to go and fight and continue to, like, you know, kill other people of color in unjust wars, basically.

AMY GOODMAN: And this is Jose Luis, an undocumented immigrant in New York who’s a pro-DREAM activist, responding to the concerns over the bill’s military provision.

JOSE LUIS: Some people who oppose the DREAM Act because of the military provision, I understand. I’m also a peaceful person. I don’t believe in military. I don’t believe in wars. But at the same time, you know, there’s people who are willing to go, and they’re—they love it.

AMY GOODMAN: Thanks to Jaisal Noor and Kouross Esmaeli for these clips. Camilo Mejía, your response?

CAMILO MEJÍA: I would not say that there are people who are willing to go, who love it. I would say that it is an option, but it’s not a fair option. Like I explained before, the military gives everything to undocumented youth to be able to join the military—help with improving their English, a stable livelihood, healthcare, college money—whereas the provision for the two-year college degree or two-year higher education provision does not include any type of federal financial aid other than work, work-study programs and private loans. So it’s very unfair. Because of how unfair it is, because of how different the level of access is between these two options, I would not really say that these are two fair options. I would be more than willing to support the DREAM Act if, for instance, there was a community service option, a third option for community service, which said, you know, young people who graduate from high school and meet all the requirements can work for the community for two years and then obtain citizenship or a path to citizenship. But with the way that it is, with the level of access and the amount of benefits that—and the money that the military can offer, as opposed to all the obstacles to getting a college education or a two-year college education, I think this is just another means of recruiting for the military.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Gabriela Pacheco, what about the—if you can respond to Camilo, but also to the issue that by pressing for the DREAM Act for the young people who are perhaps the most sympathetic of those who are—to the rest of America, of those who are undocumented, you’re in essence allowing the political leadership to get off the hook on the question of comprehensive immigration reform and that that might be delayed for years, further down the line, if the DREAM Act is passed?

GABRIELA PACHECO: Yeah. Well, you know, the first point that I wanted to talk about is what Camilo has said. I do believe that there are people that want to join the military, and I think that that’s their personal decision, and I don’t think that we should impose our own decisions and our own beliefs on other people. And if people want to choose to go to the military and serve in the military, that that is the option that they want to pursue and partake.

As far as what we were talking about in regards to the military and the six-year provision and the language barrier and so forth, there’s a lot of community colleges out there. Right here in South Florida, we have Miami Dade College, which is—you know, it’s just a great institution that I know would help a lot of these students. They are helping right now, currently, many of the undocumented students. They have special scholarships, private scholarships that they get from funders. And there’s many, many ways. Like myself, I was able to put myself through college. I have three degrees. And I was able to find a lot of grants and scholarships to pay for those things.

And as far as the DREAM Act, I think that it’s wrong that we’ve been allowing for so many young people in the country that are turning thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, for them not to have a status. We’ve been waiting for the DREAM Act. What we need to do is move it forward. I think we need to team up with Camilo and work together so that we could have provisions such as the options of the community service. I think that those are the things that we need to move it forward. And as far as the DREAM Act—

AMY GOODMAN: Gabriela, we have to leave it there. Gabriela Pacheco and Camilo Mejía, we thank you so much for being with us.

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2010/8/20/debate_is_dream_act_a_solution

I-Team Examines Increase In Deportation Of Military Veterans

Veterans Say They Served Honorably But Were Deported For Criminal Convictions
By Lauren Reynolds
10News I-Team Reporter
March 23, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- Limping along a dirt road and using a cane for support, a man in his late 30s walked toward a small building in an impoverished Rosarito Beach neighborhood. Jose walked up one flight of stairs, opened a door and said, "I don't have no furniture, nothing; this is just the basics."

Jose moved into a small one-bedroom apartment about two months ago after being deported from the U.S.

"There's no hot water, I have to warm it up here to take hot showers," he explained.

It's a culture shock for him because he was not only raised in the U.S., he fought to protect it.

"I put my life on the line to jump out of planes," he said, pointing to a picture taped to the wall of soldiers jumping out of a military aircraft.

Also on his wall hang his uniform, honorable discharge and medals of commendation for serving as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne.

A green card holder, Jose got married in the U.S., had a child and then made a serious mistake -- he committed a felony.

"I ended up picking up a gun charge two months after I got out of the military … did about 3 years (in prison)," he said.

Prison was just the first punishment. The day Jose was released, he was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, put through the deportation process and was eventually bused across the U.S.-Mexico border.

"It's hard not seeing your loved ones," Jose explained, looking at a picture of his child and wife who are still living in the U.S.

Jose is not alone, as the 10News I-Team met two other U.S. military veterans who were also deported to Mexico where they've struggled to adjust. They said they've had difficulty finding work. The only offers have come from drug traffickers looking for former military personnel with certain skill sets.

"What weapons knowledge that I have, what combat military tactics do I have," explained Hector, who served in Vietnam. He said he has been approached twice, but declined.

"Because there is no way I will go against the American people," he said.

Heather Boxeth is a San Diego criminal and immigration attorney who is representing deported veterans, and she told the I-Team, "They consider themselves American. They don't have a certificate of nationalization, but they fought for this country."

She said weapons and drug charges are the fastest way to wind up deported.

Numerous drug charges led to Hector's deportation, and he said, "It's not right, because we put our lives on the line for the United States."

It was also a string of drug charges that led Luis, an Army cook, to be kicked out of the U.S.

Luis said the punishment is too harsh, stating, "I'm not a terrorist, I'm not a traitor, I didn't betray my country."

Boxeth believes that often the crimes that land the veterans in trouble stem from their military service.

"Having a lot of different psychological, medical, health issues," she said.

As more foreign nationals are entering the U.S. Armed Forces -- about 8,000 a year -- the number of deportations of veterans is rising.

Numbers the I-Team obtained from the Department of Homeland Security show that in 2007, 16 veterans were deported. That number nearly doubled to 29 the next year, and in 2009, the number had jumped to 57 deported veterans.

"If they had gotten their citizenship, they wouldn't be in this situation," explained Rob Baker, who oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego and explains that military personnel can become citizens in three years.

"Veterans are on the fast track," he said.

If veterans do not pursue citizenship, they are vulnerable for deportation just like any green card holder who commits a serious crime. Even some misdemeanors can lead to deportation.

Baker does review every case involving ex-military personnel and he has discretion to keep those veterans out of the deportation process.

Reporter Lauren Reynolds asked Baker, "So you could stop it if you wanted to?"

He replied, "Yes", but he hasn't stopped deportation for the 25 or so cases he's reviewed so far.

Asked why he hasn't intervened, Baker said, "As a 23 year veteran of the Air Force and Air Force Reserves, I really admire the fact that they served our country. However, these crimes they are committing are very serious crimes."

He pointed out that the veterans were not immune from the criminal prosecutions that put them behind bars, just as they're not immune from the laws that apply to all legal immigrants.

Last year, a group called "Banished Veterans" was formed to lobby for reform of the laws related to veterans and deportations. Boxeth is a member of that group and said the goal to put all foreign born military personnel into a status of "non-citizen national." That way they'd still have to earn their citizenship, but they would be immune from deportation even if they commit a crime. The group is lobbying Congress right now.

Jose knows his crime was serious but said, "I made my mistakes, and I paid my debt to society."
He regrets that he didn't follow through on the citizenship process. He never realized how much that could cost him.

He's living on donations from his family and his church as he waits and prays for a miracle or law change that will allow him back in to the country he served.

"My allegiance is still to the United States," he said.

http://www.10news.com/news/22923196/detail.html

Stop the Deportation of Immigrant Military Veterans

By Alex DiBranco, Change.org
Alternet
Posted on March 14, 2010

They put their lives on the line in the service of the United States of America, and ended up being booted out of the country they fought for. They should be honored, not deported.

Immigrant military veterans of wars from Vietnam to Iraq have returned home from their service only to find detention and deportation awaiting them. More wound up on ICE's list after committing a criminal offense, most often drug-related. Veterans frequently end up in trouble with the law because they suffer from untreated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which the country has done a notoriously bad job of taking seriously and providing treatment for. These veterans should and do serve out jail sentences for their crimes, like any citizen veterans; but to then also deport them from the land they served is despicable. They served our flag, and they are our responsibility, for better or worse.

Activists who work on the issue say that hundreds or even thousands of the men and women who served under the American flag have been shipped back to their birth country; an estimated 3,000 veterans currently await deportation in often-inhumane detention centers; and many thousands live with the threat of possible deportation hanging over their heads. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't keep track of this data because it just doesn't care whether you've served this country in war or not. More than 30,000 non-citizens currently serve in the U.S. Army, and immigrants receive more than 20% of Congressional Medals of Honor, but this award makes no difference to immigration officials.

There is a trail of broken promises to deported veterans. "When your tour ends," President Barack Obama vowed to those serving in the military, "when you touch our soil, you will be home in America that is forever here for you, just as you've been there for us. That is my promise." Military recruiters regularly promise citizenship to patriotic immigrants who volunteer to offer up their lives for America.

While service in the United States military can put an immigrant on a path to citizenship, the slightest blot on their criminal record derails that process. Though service members are required to take an oath of loyalty to America almost identical to the citizenship oath, America betrays their loyalty when it allows them to be deported. Ironically, many opponents of comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship say that undocumented immigrants or legal resident immigrants facing deportation should "earn" citizenship by serving in our military. Guess what? They already are, and getting deported anyway.

The group "Banished Veterans" is working to stop the detention and deportation of immigrant veterans of the U.S. military, and bring home those who have already been banished to a country they didn't offer up their lives and blood to. Banished Veterans is collaborating with the National Lawyers Guild on a resolution asking that all immigrant veterans be automatically recognized as non-citizen nationals -- people who don't receive all the rights of citizenship, but owe permanent allegiance to America, and cannot be deported. And they need your help: support their cause by signing this petition to send a letter to Congress demanding a stop to these deportations.

These immigrant men and women offered up their lives for this country; the least we can do is show our respect by promising they will always have a home on our soil.

http://www.alternet.org/story/146030/

Paterson mother of soldier killed in Iraq fears deportation

By Tomas Dinges
The Star-Ledger
February 01, 2010

Eugenia Galdos mourns her son, Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, at the family home in Paterson. Bueno-Galdos was killed along with four other soldiers in May 2009 by a mentally disturbed U.S. soldier at a clinic in Baghdad. On Tuesday morning, Eugenia Galdos visited her son’s grave at the Totowa Cemetery to ask for help.

When he was alive, Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos had helped his father attain permanent residency and was doing the same for his mother.

But when Bueno-Galdos, 25, was killed along with four other soldiers in May 2009 by a mentally disturbed U.S. soldier at a clinic in Baghdad, his mother’s path to citizenship apparently halted.

Months have passed without an official explanation of the delay in processing her immigration papers. The uncertainty has led Galdos, of Paterson, to fear deportation despite recent encouragement from staffers in the office of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), she said.

“I don’t want to go because I have my son buried here,” Galdos said. “My son gave his life for this country.”

Bueno-Galdos and his family arrived from Mollendo, Peru, when he was 8. He received his citizenship while in the U.S. Army, which he joined in 2002. Bueno-Galdos specialized in the detection and analysis of lethal chemicals.

By December 2008, Bueno-Galdos was in the final stages of securing permanent status for his mother and the application for permanent residency had been approved, said Amada Espinoza, a U.S. Army family counselor who is helping navigate Galdos through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement paperwork.

But shortly after her son’s death, Galdos said she was informed the process had been halted and was being re-evaluated. Despite the approval, Galdos was told by immigration authorities a deportation order filed for her years before was being investigated again, Espinoza said.

Galdos sought out the Newark veterans advocacy group G.I. Go Fund, which was able to set up a meeting with staffers in Menendez’s office.

After Bueno-Galdos’ death, the family decided to bury him in the United States, a country he loved, said his mother, and where he developed a vast network of friendships.

Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, could not speak specifically to Galdos’ case, but noted that situations involving citizenship and the military can be reviewed separately.

“There are certain discretions available to a district director, but they have to do this by a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Immigration law does not waive all factors or circumstances that might make an applicant like Galdos ineligible for a green card, like illegal entry or a false claim to citizenship, said Margaret Stock, an immigration lawyer who assists military members and their families.

“So some parents of deceased soldiers are not eligible for benefits under this law. It creates a narrow remedy for some parents only,” she said.

There have been few deportations of parents of deceased service members, she said. But, immigration authorities cannot legally grant permanent residency to these applicants and instead are given a year-toyear residency permit.

“They get to live in the U.S. at the whim of the U.S. government and at any time it can be revoked,” she said.

Recent legislation Menendez co-sponsored seeks to automatically grant permanent residency for parents and spouses of family members who die in war.

After visiting her son’s grave at the cemetery Tuesday, Galdos had yet another of a series of inconclusive interactions with immigration authorities.

“If this case only had to do with me, I understand,” said Galdos. “But I have something here that I can’t leave behind, and that is my son.”

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/paterson_mother_of_soldier_kil.html

Few options for veterans who await deportation

Some say their military service merits special consideration
By Steve Liewer
San Diego Tribune
July 12, 2009

As a 7-year-old, Fernando Cervantes emigrated legally from Mexico to Texas with his mother in 1961.

At 18, in the waning days of the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Army. Cervantes donned the khaki uniform, raised his right hand and swore to defend the Constitution.

“I thought it was my patriotic duty,” he said.

Thirty-two years after his honorable discharge, Cervantes is wearing the bright-orange shirt of a detainee at the El Centro Service Processing Center, where he has been held since the end of a three-year prison term last year for possession of methamphetamine for sale.

Barring an act of Congress, he will be deported to Mexico, a country he hasn't visited since 1970. “I have no one in Mexico. Everything in my life is here,” said Cervantes, 55, of Victorville. “It's very scary.”

About 32,000 foreign-born detainees await deportation at roughly 350 facilities nationwide – including the one in El Centro and another in Otay Mesa – operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or its contractors. An estimated 45 percent are legal residents who committed crimes ranging from murder to drug possession and were turned over to ICE after their prison terms.

No one has a reliable count of how many of them served in the U.S. armed forces. Rob Baker, field director of ICE's San Diego office, ventured an estimate of half a percent, or fewer than 200 nationwide. Jan Ruhman of Rancho Bernardo, a Vietnam War vet who works with several anti-war groups, believes the figure is about 3,000.

Whatever the total, the deportation of veterans raises questions about the government's responsibility to foreign-born noncitizens who have worn the uniform and, in some cases, shed blood in America's defense.

Detained veterans believe they merit special consideration because of their military service. Some have sought out lawyers to press their case and have written letters to legislators, both to no avail.

“There's people like me who will step up and defend this country,” said Rohan Coombs, 45, a Jamaica-born former Marine and Persian Gulf War veteran from Tustin who was stationed at Camp Pendleton for part of his six-year tenure.

He served time for drug crimes and is now at the El Centro facility.

“I'm not saying I'm a saint, but I think I deserve the right to stay here,” Coombs said.

Heather Boxeth, a San Diego attorney who handles criminal defense and immigration cases, is representing Coombs and another detained veteran for free.

“I'm not from a military family, and I'm not an Army brat,” she said. “But I thought there was something wrong with this.”

Plenty of people, though, said living in the United States is a privilege that foreigners forfeit with criminal behavior – even if they're veterans.

“If they've not gotten citizenship, I have no qualms about deporting them,” said retired Marine Lt. Col. Tom Richards of Rancho Bernardo, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who heads the state's Legion of Valor. “The moral of the story is, you shouldn't become a convicted felon.”

Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Lakeside, is an Iraq war veteran who has helped foreign-born Marines under his command become U.S. citizens. He said veterans who have committed crimes deserve due process, but no more.

“If the law says you get deported, then that's what happens,” Hunter said.

Until 1996, the law subjected foreigners to deportation only for the most serious crimes and gave immigration judges wide latitude to consider special circumstances.

That year, as part of a broad revision of immigration laws, Congress expanded the list of aggravated felonies for which foreign-born residents can be deported and greatly limited judicial discretion.

The revised list includes murder, kidnapping, rape and other violent crimes as well as forgery, theft and possession of drugs with the intent to sell.

“It sounds really good: Let's deport people who commit crimes. But usually, it's not significant crimes,” said Army Reserve Lt. Col. Margaret Stock, an attorney in Alaska who volunteers with the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Military Assistance Program.

Most of the veterans facing deportation were convicted of drug possession, Stock and other lawyers said.

Coombs said he started smoking marijuana frequently after his wife, Pamela, died in 2001 from diabetes-related complications.

“It started out as something that helped me go to sleep,” said Coombs, former manager of a Frazee Paint store. “To support my habit, I started getting a little extra (to sell).” He has been arrested three times and imprisoned once for marijuana violations.

Cervantes, a journeyman carpenter, started using methamphetamine in the early 1980s while working two jobs to support his wife and two children.

Three times he has served jail terms of less than a year for producing, holding or selling drugs. A fourth conviction in 2006, for sale and possession of less than 1 gram of meth, landed him in state prison and, eventually, in El Centro.

“For all these years, I thought I was an American citizen” because of the military service, Cervantes said. “To say that I was surprised would be an understatement.”

As far back as the American Revolution, the military has relied on foreign-born troops to fill its ranks. Green-card holders always have been subject to the military draft.

The Pentagon has offered foreign-born residents a fast track to citizenship in times of war. But Coombs and Cervantes said they didn't think that option was important because recruiters had told them they would automatically become citizens once they enlisted.

Their deportation cases drew outside attention after Coombs' fiancee wrote an e-mail that found its way to Ruhman, the veterans advocate. He met with Coombs and, over time, learned that at least 10 veterans were among the 500 detainees at the El Centro facility.

“I support 'em because I'm a (expletive) Marine, and Marines don't leave anyone behind,” Ruhman said. He contacted Boxeth, and the two have reached out to veterans advocates and human-rights lawyers around the country. They're trying to assess how many other veterans are awaiting deportation.

So far, they haven't had much luck. They must be invited by a detainee before being allowed onto the grounds of a detention facility.

Boxeth said the legal system offers little hope of stopping the deportations because judges have lost most of that authority.

ICE does give field-office directors the right to review veterans' cases. Baker, whose region includes San Diego and Imperial counties, said he sees about 10 cases a year involving veterans. He said he has never stopped proceedings on a case solely because of someone's military record.

“I admire their service to our country,” said Baker, who spent 23 years in the Air Force. “But I don't think that service qualifies them for an amnesty.”

Boxeth said her strategy is to prolong her cases while lobbying legislators to change the law. She met this month with Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Filner could not be reached for comment. Boxeth said he has agreed to sponsor a “private bill” granting relief specifically to Cervantes, though congressional analysts said few of such measures pass.

Boxeth said Filner also is considering broader legislation that would give foreign-hThe change would shield them from being deported or allow them to return to the United States if they have left.

“These are still people who fought in our wars,” Boxeth said. “I don't think enough of the American public knows what's going on.”

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