MATAMOROS, MEXICO (CNN) - A U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan has been deported to Mexico, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative said.
The deportation follows an earlier decision by U.S. authorities to deny Miguel Perez's citizenship application because of a felony drug conviction, despite his service and the post-traumatic stress disorder he said it caused. Perez said he self-medicated with drugs.
Perez, 39, was escorted across the U.S.-Mexico border from Texas and handed over to Mexican authorities on Friday, ICE said in a statement.
"Mi hijo...My son went to defend both Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor. Soldiers don't discriminate against anyone, they defend everyone,” said his father, Miguel Perez Sr.
Perez, his family and supporters, who include Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, had argued that his wartime service to the country had earned him the right to stay in the U.S. and to receive mental health treatment for the PTSD and substance abuse. She sent a letter to Homeland Security asking the Trump administration to review his case.
"This case is a tragic example of what can happen when national immigration policies are based more in hate than on logic and ICE doesn't feel accountable to anyone," Duckworth said in a statement following reports of Perez's deportation. "At the very least, Miguel should have been able to exhaust all of his legal options before being rushed out of the country under a shroud of secrecy."
CNN reports that Perez legally came to the U.S. when he was 8. Perez has two children in the U.S., and his mother and two sisters are citizens.
In 2010, Perez was convicted in Cook County, IL on charges related to delivering 2 lbs. of cocaine to an undercover officer, CNN reports. Perez served eight years in prison on the conviction.
Perez’s application to become a citizen was revoked because he did not show “good moral character,” even though he served two tours.
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