A local group celebrated the Fourth of July in Tijuana with veterans who have been deported.
The young American Dreamers from Polk County raised money for the trip, hoping to raise awareness and spark some change.
“They earned it. They paid. And right now they’re living off of donations but they don’t want to live off donations. They want their benefits. They earned their benefits. And the VA tells them to come on over they can get an appointment but they’re deported and not allowed to re-enter the United States,” said Young American Dreamers Executive Director, Daniel Barajas.
Barajas said veterans from places like Mexico are being deported after run-ins with the law and stripped of their benefits.
“These veterans they come back and they get caught with possession. They get in a bar fight, a DUI and by law they end up losing their residency. They’re stripped of their residency,” he said.
The group held a vigil and took pictures with some of the veterans in Tijuana near the border. One of the images shows a man holding up a sign asking for help because he’s a deported veteran. It’s not the image Barajas said most people are used to seeing but he said it’s all too common.
“You don’t have to be a citizen to enlist in the military and there’s been people who have been undocumented immigrants who’ve joined the military and many with green cards,” he said. “We do our best in training these guys and we know what they’re coming back to. If they come back alive.”
Barajas is hoping to get their message across to government leaders. He says he’s been trying to get a meeting with someone in the American consulate Tijuana. The group returns to Polk County on Tuesday.