Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and veteran of the Iraq War, has introduced a series of bills that would bar the U.S. government from deporting veterans convicted of nonviolent crimes, ensure the return of veterans who have already been deported, allow currently deported veterans to access V.A. services, and require military training locations provide naturalization services for active-duty service members.
While there are no exact numbers, NBC News estimated that some 230 veterans have been kicked out of the U.S. after serving in the military:
“Men and women willing to wear our uniform shouldn’t be deported by the same nation they risked their lives to defend,” Duckworth said in a statement. "These pieces of legislation will help service members become citizens and help veterans who have been deported return to this country, enabling them to live here with their families, and ensuring they have access to the life-saving VA care they have earned because of their tremendous sacrifices," she continued.
Mario Longoria, a veterans group leader, said that while “some of the [deported] veterans knew they had to get their naturalization process done to become citizens,” others “mistakenly believed, or were told, that their service automatically makes them citizens.”
Nearly 11,000 non-citizens currently serve in the U.S. military, according to the most recent data from the Immigration Policy Center. At least 119 immigrants posthumously earned their citizenship after dying in combat, including Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who was a formerly undocumented immigrant and among the first Americans to die in action in Iraq.
One bill, co-sponsored by Nevada’s Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, would require DHS “to identify current and former noncitizen service members. The department would then be able to fast track the veterans' applications for citizenship.” The legislation would also “establish a naturalization office at each initial military training site to identify and conduct outreach to non-citizen service members to ensure the government follows through on its promise to help them become American citizens.”
Another piece of legislation introduced by Sen. Duckworth would also allow currently deported veterans to reenter the United States in order to access V.A. services, joining a similar call from congressional Democrats last month. According to a press release from Sen. Duckworth’s office, “once a veteran is deported, they are usually unable to access the V.A. benefits they have earned and would receive if they were still living in the United States”:
“Many have trouble accessing even basic medical care, which is particularly problematic because Veterans struggle with higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and physical health problems like chronic pain than the general population. Many deported Veterans have also been separated from their families and their children, who live in the United States. Veterans deported to Mexico or Central America also are vulnerable to threats from gangs and drug cartels because of their military experience.”
Despite his tweets in praise of the military, “President Trump’s recent executive order expanding the grounds for deportation from those who have been convicted of a criminal offense to those who authorities believe may have committed a chargeable criminal offense has led to a sharp increase in arrests and deportations, which could lead to more veterans being deported,” notes the press release.
“These bills will help us honor our commitment to veterans and service members seeking U.S. citizenship,” said Cortez Masto. “I am proud to have co-sponsored this legislation to support the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep our nation safe.
