Once deported, vets given citizenship
Immigrant effort lets back military members
SAN DIEGO — After fighting in Afghanistan, former U.S. Army soldier Mauricio Hernandez Mata returned home with post-traumatic stress, which he says eventually led to getting in trouble with the law and being deported to Mexico — a country he had not lived in since he was a boy.
On Wednesday, he and another deported veteran were sworn in as U.S. citizens at a special naturalization ceremony in San Diego.
The two veterans were among 65 who have been allowed back into the U.S. over the past year ago as part of an effort by the Biden administration called the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative to make amends with immigrants who served in the U.S. military only to wind up deported.
Hundreds of U.S. military veterans, including some who were charged with crimes such as drunk driving or theft, have been deported in what immigration advocates have called an unfair punishment to those who took up arms in the name of the United States.
“After my deportation, yeah, I never thought this day would come,” said Hernandez, 41, after being presented his U.S. citizenship certificate. “It’s definitely been a long road. I’m glad that we were given a second chance as anybody that is either American-born or fought for America should have.”
Leonel Contreras, 63, who joined the U.S. Army at age of 17 and served for a year in 1976, also was sworn in.
“I feel very blessed,” he said. “I feel very happy to be back on American soil.”
Both men spent the past decade living in the border city of Tijuana.
Contreras was whisked away by U.S. immigration authorities who detained him at a barbershop where he worked in National City. His life forever changed.
In Tijuana, he continued to work as a barber and worked at call centers as well. During that time his two sons grew up, and he now is a grandfather. With his U.S. citizenship in hand, Contreras said he is not looking back.
“I just want to go to all the places I’ve dreamed of seeing, like the Grand Canyon and possibly Mount Rushmore,” he said.
Hernandez said his deportation came after unspecified “irreverent actions and mistakes I made due to my PTSD.”
But he said after he was allowed to return a year ago, he was determined to get his U.S. citizenship so he could go to the grocery store and not feel “terrified” of being sent back to Mexico.
His 7-year-old daughter hugged him after he was sworn in amid cheers. Then he turned and kissed his wife.
“I’ve always been an American, the difference is now I’m an American citizen and I have all the rights that any American born citizen has,” Hernandez said.