More than a year after he was deported by the Trump administration without so much as a chance to say goodbye to his family, U.S. military veteran Miguel Perez Jr. was this week allowed to return to Chicago to attend an immigration hearing that could soon lead to his gaining U.S. citizenship. "There's no words to describe it," he said, surrounded by supporters. "First and foremost, I feel blessed."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, herself a U.S. military veteran, and countless others condemned Perez’s deportation to Mexico in March 2018, after he lost his green card over a felony drug conviction in 2010. The veteran, who served twice in Afghanistan, had struggled with PTSD and addiction. Duckworth drafted a private bill and personally lobbied then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to stop Perez’s deportation, to no avail.
Perez said that when he was flown to Mexico, the ICE agents escorting him on the flight took selfies with him “like fishermen with a prize fish,” and despite being transported with a group of others, he was singled out ahead of them. “They wanted to make sure to get rid of me first,” he said. Attorney Chris Bergen told NBC News that the military veteran was deported with no money and no clothes but the orange prison uniform on his back. "He was dumped in one of the most dangerous areas of the Mexican border.”
A recent pardon from Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker has cleared his drug conviction, and Perez’s advocates hope that that cleared roadblock means he’ll soon be back in the country he served, and where he belongs. That decision could come as soon as this week, CNN said. “If the decision takes more than two weeks, Perez will have to return to Mexico, but he could also ask for an extension of the parole.”
Duckworth welcomed the news of the veteran’s return, saying she wished him “the best of luck” at his hearing. “Miguel Perez was willing to protect our nation in uniform and his experiences after coming home—including the great lengths he went to reform his life—show us why we should never give up on our combat veterans,” she said in a statement. “It will be a proud day for our country when we can call Miguel a fellow American.”