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Texas congressmen visit deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico

June 9, 2017

U.S Representative Vicente Gonzalez spent the first weekend of June visiting the men and women at the Deported Veterans Support House-- a place the veterans built for themselves in Tijuana, México.

Gonzalez was joined by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) and other state representatives from New Mexico, Arizona and California.

"These are veterans who served our country honorably," Gonzalez said. "Who had no prior criminal history prior to entering this service and came back as many do with high PTSD, got themselves in some trouble, served their time, paid their debt to society and then were deported from this country."

As of January 2017, there are more than 10,664 non-citizens serving in the US army and an additional 11,524 non-citizens under reserve status.

Most come from the Philippines, México, Jamaica, South Korea, and the Dominican Republic.

Recruiters promise them quick citizenship but fail to tell them it is not granted automatically--leaving many believing they are living as citizens of the country they gave their lives to defend.

"I'm asking the administration to stop the deportation of any veterans and bringing our veterans home is the solution," Gonzalez said