Deported U.S. veteran Hector Barajas-Varela returns home to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen
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Surrounded by ecstatic and emotional supporters, deported U.S. veteran Hector Barajas-Varela returned home to the U.S. last Friday to be sworn in as a citizen of the nation he served for six years: The Mexico-born U.S. veteran, who waged a decade-long fiDeported U.S. veteran Hector Barajas-Varela returns home to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen
Surrounded by ecstatic and emotional supporters, deported U.S. veteran Hector Barajas-Varela returned home to the U.S. last Friday to be sworn in as a citizen of the nation he served for six years: The Mexico-born U.S. veteran, who waged a decade-long fight to return to the U.S. after his deportation … traveled from Tijuana, Mexico to San Diego, California and officially became a U.S. citizen. “I’m home today,” said Barajas-Varela to cheers from family, supporters and veterans groups outside the city's Department of Homeland Security building. Deported in 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Barajas-Varela “is the first known deported veteran to be naturalized as a US citizen.” He was at “The Bunker,” the Tijuana support center he founded for other deported U.S. veterans, when he found out he had won U.S. citizenship: Last year a congressional delegation, including Rep. Joaquín Castro, (D-TX), visited the center and advocated for the deported veterans. «Many of us believe that they should be allowed to become citizens,» said Rep. Castro. Barajas-Varela received a full pardon from Gov. Jerry Brown last year. Barajas-Varela “has shown that since his release from custody, he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character and conducted himself as a law-abiding citizen,” Gov. Brown said at the time. In a true testament to those words, Barajas-Varela said last month that he plans to stay in Mexico another year to make sure The Bunker keeps running. “I got a commitment to these guys,” he said. Read more