Iraq war Marine walks U.S.-Mexico border to protest deportation of veterans
By Jose Luis Gonzalez
FILE PHOTO: Military veterans walk on the border between the U.S. and Mexico to request their return to the United States, in Sunland Park
EL PASO (Reuters) – When U.S. military veteran Ramon Castro began meeting deported veterans living along the U.S.-Mexican border not far from his home in Southern California, he knew that, but for a piece of paper proving his citizenship, he could have been one of them.
He’s now in the middle of a 2,000-mile (3,219 km) trek across the length of the frontier to draw attention to the plight of U.S. veterans sent back to their countries of birth, some as a result of infractions like drug use that Castro said are associated with mental health struggles.
Between 2013 and 2018, about 250 veterans were deported or placed in deportation proceedings, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Advocates say the total number of deported veterans may be far higher.
Although Castro was born in the United States, his family has sprawled across both sides of the desert borderlands for generations and he lived briefly in Mexico as a child, he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday about 20 miles east of El Paso, Texas.
More:
https://www.metro.us/iraq-war-marine-walks/
