Deported Veteran Becomes U.S. Citizen After California Pardon

A decorated former U.S. Army paratrooper whose work on behalf of deported veterans drew widespread attention to his cause became a U.S. citizen Friday, giving immigration advocates a rare reason to celebrate.

Hector Barajas, who was deported to Mexico in 2010, beamed after taking his citizenship oath in a small, private ceremony at a government office in San Diego in full military uniform.

"I get to live the American Dream for a second time," he said, holding a small American flag in his hand at a jubilant news conference.

Barajas has managed a shelter for deported veterans in the Mexican border city of Tijuana for the last eight years, drawing support from members of Congress and advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union.

Barajas got his break last year when California Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned a 2002 conviction for shooting at an occupied vehicle. Brown cited Barajas' military service and advocacy work.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told him in March that he was granted citizenship.

Hours before Barajas took his oath, President Donald Trump tweeted about plans for a border wall with Mexico and a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities. A surge of deportation arrests and sweeping policy changes have reeled advocates of more open immigration policies.

Nathan Fletcher, a Marine combat veteran and chairman of the advocacy group Honorably Discharged, Dishonorably Discarded, said Trump's tweet started the day with "division and conflict and tearing families apart" and ended with Barajas taking his oath.

"It's a tremendous contrast of what can happen and what should happen and it shows that injustice can be overcome," Fletcher said alongside Barajas.

Barajas came to the United States from Mexico with a green card obtained through family ties when he was 7 years old. After graduating from high school, he served in the U.S. Army from 1995 to 2001, when he was honorably discharged, according to his federal lawsuit filed in December seeking citizenship.

He was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and received several military accolades.

After serving prison time for his felony conviction, he was deported in 2004 to Mexico, lacking fluency in Spanish and struggling to find work, according to the lawsuit. He returned to the United States and was deported again in 2010 after police stopped him for a traffic infraction.

Some military members are entitled to seek citizenship. The American Civil Liberties Union said Barajas is the second deported veteran pardoned by Brown to be allowed to return to the United States and that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, waiting.

Marine veteran Marco Chavez was pardoned for cruelty to animals and allowed to return to the U.S. from Mexico in December.