Castro named 40th Senate District’s Citizen of the Month
Brawley City Councilman Ramon Castro was named state Sen. Ben Hueso’s Citizen of the Month for August, a newsletter issued Tuesday from the senator’s office announced.
Hueso praised Castro for a recent walking trip he completed in early August.
For 45 days, Castro walked the entire U.S.-Mexico border to support and bring awareness to non-U.S. citizen veterans who have been deported, oftentimes for committing minor crimes involving drugs and alcohol or linked to emotional trauma related to their military service.
“Thank you, Ramon, for bringing awareness to this important issue,” Hueso stated in his newsletter. “Your bravery, dedication and grit are beyond admirable.”
Castro hiked up to 15 hours a day in temperatures reaching 120 degrees and faced threats from weather, dogs, wildlife and physical injuries, the newsletter read.
Castro’s trek started June 28 in San Diego and continued across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, ending Aug. 11 in Brownsville, Texas.
Castro’s “Walk the Line” hike was the inaugural event of the American Veterans Homefront Initiative, an organization he recently founded that works to stop deportation of American veterans, help those who have been deported to return to the United States and streamline the U.S. citizenship process for immigrants serving in the military.
Castro, a U.S. Marine veteran and an electrician, was elected to the Brawley City Council in 2020.