Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Deported U.S. Army vet wants in
Hector Barajas takes first step toward suing federal government
Hector Barajas (right) was pardoned by governor Jerry Brown earlier this year.
A U.S. Army veteran who was deported to Mexico has filed a complaint against the federal government in hopes of returning to the U.S.
Hector Barajas, 40, filed the complaint on December 12, and while the complaint is confidential, his journey is not.
Barajas came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was six years old. He obtained a green card but never finalized his citizenship. In 1995 he joined the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and served for the next six years. Not long after leaving the military, Barajas was arrested for shooting at a car. In 2004 he was deported to Mexico. Barajas returned to the U.S. and was living illegally until he was deported again in 2009.
In recent years Barajas opened a shelter in Tijuana call the Deported Veteran Support House, also known as "the bunker." Since opening the shelter, Barajas has become the face of deported U.S military veterans.
In 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report that found over 200 former military members had been deported. But as is the case with Barajas, the federal government has been slow to process naturalization requests for veterans who want to return to the country.
The report found that many of the veterans believed serving in the military granted them immediate citizenship — it does not. In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union discovered that the military wasn't doing enough to ensure that foreign-born military members were given a clear road to naturalized citizenship. That was the case for Barajas, according to an article in the Union-Tribune.
But help may be on the way.
San Diego congressmen Scott Peters and Juan Vargas have drafted a bill that would end the deportation of veterans. In April of this year, governor Jerry Brown pardoned Barajas, the first step toward returning to America. Now comes the legal battle.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and Latham & Watkins are representing Barajas. They declined to comment for this article.
UPDATE 12/14 7:45 a.m.
“A lot of good things have happened here," said Barajas. "In many ways I've become more patriotic. Americans can take things for granted and you don’t realize it until those things are taken away.
"At the same time it’s been difficult. I grew up in the U.S. It’s my home. My daughter is there. But my work at the bunker helps remind me that I, and everyone else for that matter, can take the negative and turn it into something positive. I could become more bitter and angry but that won't help anything.
As for what he will do when, and if, he returns, Barajas said, "I want to start my life all over again, go to school, find a new career, but always be a part of this mission.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Deported U.S. Army vet wants in
Hector Barajas takes first step toward suing federal government
Deported U.S. Army vet wants in
Hector Barajas takes first step toward suing federal government
Hector Barajas (right) was pardoned by governor Jerry Brown earlier this year.
A U.S. Army veteran who was deported to Mexico has filed a complaint against the federal government in hopes of returning to the U.S.
Hector Barajas, 40, filed the complaint on December 12, and while the complaint is confidential, his journey is not.
Barajas came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was six years old. He obtained a green card but never finalized his citizenship. In 1995 he joined the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and served for the next six years. Not long after leaving the military, Barajas was arrested for shooting at a car. In 2004 he was deported to Mexico. Barajas returned to the U.S. and was living illegally until he was deported again in 2009.
In recent years Barajas opened a shelter in Tijuana call the Deported Veteran Support House, also known as "the bunker." Since opening the shelter, Barajas has become the face of deported U.S military veterans.
In 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report that found over 200 former military members had been deported. But as is the case with Barajas, the federal government has been slow to process naturalization requests for veterans who want to return to the country.
The report found that many of the veterans believed serving in the military granted them immediate citizenship — it does not. In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union discovered that the military wasn't doing enough to ensure that foreign-born military members were given a clear road to naturalized citizenship. That was the case for Barajas, according to an article in the Union-Tribune.
But help may be on the way.
San Diego congressmen Scott Peters and Juan Vargas have drafted a bill that would end the deportation of veterans. In April of this year, governor Jerry Brown pardoned Barajas, the first step toward returning to America. Now comes the legal battle.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and Latham & Watkins are representing Barajas. They declined to comment for this article.
UPDATE 12/14 7:45 a.m.
“A lot of good things have happened here," said Barajas. "In many ways I've become more patriotic. Americans can take things for granted and you don’t realize it until those things are taken away.
"At the same time it’s been difficult. I grew up in the U.S. It’s my home. My daughter is there. But my work at the bunker helps remind me that I, and everyone else for that matter, can take the negative and turn it into something positive. I could become more bitter and angry but that won't help anything.
As for what he will do when, and if, he returns, Barajas said, "I want to start my life all over again, go to school, find a new career, but always be a part of this mission.”
Comments