Deported vet seeks a hearing
Roman Sabal, who served in Marines, has been fighting to be a U.S. citizen since 1995.
SAN DIEGO — A deported Marine Corps veteran who has been unable to come back to the U.S. for more than a decade was denied entry to the country Monday morning when he asked to be let in for a scheduled citizenship interview.
Roman Sabal, 58, originally from Belize, came to the San Ysidro Port of Entry around 7:30 on Monday morning with an attorney to ask for “parole” to attend his naturalization interview scheduled for a little before noon in downtown San Diego. Border officials have the authority to temporarily allow people into the country on parole for “humanitarian or significant public benefit” reasons.
Sabal first applied to become a U.S. citizen in 1995 after serving six years as a Marine and several more in the Army Reserve. He has two U.S. citizen children with a U.S. citizen partner whom he hopes to marry.
Sabal initially came to the United States on a tourist visa and did not have permission to stay permanently. His goal when he came, having seen Marines in action during his time in the Belizean military, was to enlist in the Marine Corps.
He managed to join with a fake identity document. He said he confessed during boot camp and was told, “Don’t worry about it. You’re a Marine now.”
Years after he was honorably discharged, he decided to go back to Belize because he’d developed diabetes and his mother had offered to help him treat it with herbal remedies rather than pharmaceuticals. When he returned to the U.S., his entry triggered an immigration court case. Sabal never found out about the hearing in that case, and a judge ordered him deported in his absence. When he returned to Belize again in 2008 for more treatment, he found himself stuck outside the U.S.
Recently, a team of attorneys with Public Counsel, which has a program to help deported veterans, has worked to help him apply again for U.S. citizenship based on his military record.
There is no official process in place for people in situations like Sabal’s, according to his attorney Victoria Starrett. Starrett has communicated with multiple federal agencies about requests for parole since each is sometimes responsible for granting that ability to enter the U.S. Starrett said the legal team has not received a definitive answer about how to get Sabal to his citizenship interview.
Starrett sent requests that he be allowed into the country for his interview but did not receive decisions after months of waiting, the attorney said.
With his interview date approaching, they decided to ask in person.
Sabal and his attorney crossed onto U.S. soil on Monday and gave Customs and Border Protection officials a thick stack of paperwork detailing his case and his request to enter the country to attend his interview.
Officers waved the pair to the side to wait.
Meanwhile, Hector Barajas, a formerly deported veteran who was able to become a U.S. citizen after jumping through his own set of hurdles, called congressional offices, including that of Rep. Juan Vargas, a Democrat whose district includes the California border, to ask for help.
Border officials eventually said on Monday to go through Immigration and Customs Enforcement to request parole, Starrett said, but immigration officials sent Sabal back to Mexico. Some ICE officers work out of the port of entry, but it was not clear whether they were involved in what happened.
An agreement drawn up between federal agencies suggests that because he has a deportation order, Sabal’s case for parole falls under ICE’s jurisdiction. When asked about the case last week, ICE deferred to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for deciding whether to allow Sabal to become a U.S. citizen.
ICE did not immediately respond a request for additional comment on Monday.
When asked about Sabal’s situation on Monday morning, a CBP spokeswoman said, “His attorney was notified that he should work with the Department of State to obtain the necessary documents for entry rather than seeking parole from CBP.”
Starrett pointed out that Sabal already tried to get a visa through the Department of State to attend a naturalization interview in 2016, and that request was denied because of his deportation order.
“After refusing to allow Sgt. Sabal to enter the U.S. for his citizenship interview this morning, CBP now tries to pass the blame for its shameful treatment of a former U.S. Marine,” Starrett said. “Earlier today, CBP told me that ICE — not the Department of State — was responsible. Now apparently they claim it is the Department of State.”
Starrett called on officials to work together to schedule his naturalization interview at the port of entry itself as has happened for other deported veterans.
“Veterans should not be forced to jump through futile hoops when all parties know they will be denied,” Starrett said. “This charade should stop here.”
Sabal said the experience was disappointing. He maintained the stoic control of emotions that might be expected of a Marine, his arms folded across his chest, as he described talking on the phone with his 13-yearold daughter the day before, the anticipation she felt with the hope of seeing him later this week and the frustration of that dream becoming less and less likely.