Honoring Our Soldiers? Deported Vets

Washington Post Senior Correspondent Kevin Sullivan looks at deported veterans, a group that has almost no attention in the Washington debate over immigration reform. They are part of a little-known cadre of warriors who served in the U.S. military as green-card holders — permanent legal residents but not U.S. citizens — then committed a crime after returning to civilian life, were convicted and punished, then were permanently expelled from the United States. U.S. immigration law states that noncitizens who commit serious crimes forfeit their right to remain in the country. Deported veterans and their advocates say those who wear the uniform should be treated as U.S. citizens: punished for any crimes they commit, but not deported.

KJ