EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) gathered near an international port of entry in El Paso on Saturday, Nov. 2 to call attention to what they say are thousands of veterans who have been unjustly deported in the past decade.
Ray Mancera, LULAC’s national vice president for the Southwest, said these veterans who were undocumented non-citizens were automatically deported under the Patriot Act after 9/11 for committing crimes, no matter how small.
“We are calling for the Biden Administration to grant them a pardon if it was a federal crime and for state governors to pardon them, if they were state crimes,” Mancera said.
Mancera said these veterans fought for their country and “now feel abandonded.”
“They feel their country has abandoned them,” Mancera said. “They thought they were Americans and their government said, ‘No, you are not. Get out of here.'”
“These people served their country in battle; they were not asked if they were residents,” Mancera said. “They fought for America. When they came back to their families and were starting to enjoy the benefits of being an American, they were deported.”
Mancera and other members of LULAC said they were going to travel over to Juarez and visit with deported veterans. He did not know exactly how many there are in Juarez because they are fearful about their identities being found out by the drug cartels and being forced to work for them.
“There might be five there. There might be 40,” Mancera said. “We want to tell them, we have not forgotten them.”
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