U.S. Deported Veterans Can Only Become Americans Upon Death

Fabian Rebolledo

Photos: Facebook

Former U.S. Veterans who were previously deported to Mexico and other countries can only become Americans upon death and can be buried with full military honors. Also, the first Deported Veterans Support Home (Safehouse) will open in Baja California, Mexico.

By H. Nelson Goodson

October 11, 2012

Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico - On Monday, U.S. Veteran Fabian Rebolledo, one of the multitude of Veterans that have been been deported by the U.S. Government posted on Facebook that only upon the death of a deported U.S. Veteran presently living in another country can they be fully honored and recognized by the U.S. military and government as Americans. The U.S. Government provides a plot and marker.

Rebolledo posted that 12,000 or more U.S. Veterans have been deported by the U.S. Rebolledo, who served in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne will face between 7 to 20 years in a federal prison, if he illegally returns to the U.S. Rebolledo stated, "Currently in Eloy there are 17 Veterans being deported. One of hundreds in federal detention centers around the country. If I die today, I can be buried as an American with full military Honors...only upon my death may I be able to be an American!" He is now residing Baja California in Mexico along with another deported Veteran Hector Barajas. Both men and a group of other Veterans began a support group to provide help for other U.S. Veterans in the same predicament brought upon them by unjust immigration laws and the same government and country they honorably served.

The group of banished U.S. Veterans who were deported to Mexico by the U.S. Government plan to open a safehouse on Saturday, October 13, that will provide support to other Veterans that have been deported as well. One of those deported Veterans, Hector Barajas with the assistance of Fabian Rebolledo, another deported Veteran, has turned his Rosarito Beach home into a Deported Veterans Support Home where Barajas resides after being deported to Mexico.

The support group reported that 4,000 flyers about the group and safehouse has been distributed in Tel Vista, Plaza Rio and Tijuana, Baja California and they expect to attract more banished Veterans living in those areas. 

Barajas has confirmed through Facebook that other mass media from the U.S. and Mexico will cover the Grand Opening of the safehouse on Saturday.

Barajas, who served in the U.S. Army between 1995 to 2001 reported that the safehouse will provide the needed support for those U.S. Veterans facing removal proceedings from the U.S. and will eventually get deported to Mexico. The safehouse will be the first of its kind in Mexico.

Those Veterans seeking support will be able to get spiritual advice, shelter, food, assistance in getting a local Mexican ID. They will also have access to a phone and Internet, according to Barajas.

At the moment, Barajas is seeking contributions and donated furniture, food, clothing, contacts for job skill training and future job placement for the banished U.S. Veterans in Mexico.

"Since 1996, the U.S. government has deported Vietnam, Persian, Gulf War, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan combat/peace time Veterans who had legal residence, VA benefits and strong ties to the U.S.," Barajas stated.

On October 12, both Manuel and Valente Valenzuela from Colorado Springs will be speaking about the issue of the banished U.S. Veterans at the UTEP Campus in El Paso, Texas. The Valenzuelas who have become advocates for deported Veterans had faced the threat of deportation for misdemeanor crimes, but were able to stay in the U.S. until their immigration case gets resolved. The Valenzuelas were born in Mexico to a U.S. Citizen mother from New Mexico. Their father was a Mexican national, but later legalised as well. By birth right to a U.S. Citizen in another country, their born children become automatically U.S. Citizens, according to federal law.

Since then, they have learned of hundreds of Veterans facing deportation or who have been deported regardless of their contributions and honorable service in the armed forces protecting the freedom of Americans and the U.S. Constitution. They have put forth the issue of the deportation of U.S. Veterans, despite President Barack H. Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney's exclusion of the issue in their first debate or in their current campaigns for U.S. President.

The mother of deported U.S. Veteran, Fabian Rebolledo will also be a guest speaker at the event. The event on October 12, starts at 1:30 p.m to 3:00 p.m., at the University of Texas El Paso, Quinn Hall, Room 212.

The safehouse will open on Saturday, October 13, at 

614 Jorge Estonol 

Colonia Reforma

Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico

Hector Barajas can be contacted at Banishedveteran@yahoo.com or at U.S. area code 626-569-5491 for more information about the safehouse. Barajas email can also be used to send donations through PayPal.

The Valenzuela brothers could be contacted at brothersvalenzuela@gmail.com for more information about the banished Veterans.

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