U.S. Military Veteran Held In Wisconsin, Faces Deportation

KENOSHA, WI — A U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan faces deportation because of a 2008 drug conviction, and a local politician is calling on congressional leaders to keep him in the U.S.

Miguel Perez, 39, is currently being held in an immigration detention center in Kenosha, Wis. awaiting deportation. According to an earlier Patch.com report, the green card holder has lost an appeal to remain in the U.S. - a place he has lived since he was a child.

According to the Deported Veterans Support House, as of January 2017, there were 10,644 noncitizens currently serving in the U.S. military. Perez is one of many legal U.S. residents who faces deportation for committing a crime.

Perez, who left Mexico when he was eight years old, said he mistakenly thought he became a U.S. citizen when he took an oath to protect the country. His family is "distraught," Perez's supporters told the Chicago Tribune. Perez has two children who are U.S. citizens.

"If it comes down to me being deported, I would rather leave this world in the country I gave my heart for,” Perez said in an interview from the detention center to a Chicago Tribune reporter. According to the report, Perez has two children who are U.S. citizens.

Democrat Randy Bryce, who is running against Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin's First Congressional District, is a U.S. Army Veteran and is calling for his opponent to keep Perez in the U.S.

"Speaker Ryan must immediately call for the release of this veteran who served our country twice in Afghanistan," he said in a prepared statement this week. "Many of my fellow veterans struggled with PTSD and, as a result, substance abuse. To take this man who has paid for his mistakes from his two children is not right - to disregard his service because of a nearly 10-year-old offense is not right."

According to media reports, On Nov. 26, 2008, Perez handed a laptop case containing more than two pounds of cocaine to an undercover law enforcement officer in Chicago. He pleaded guilty and is currently being held in an immigration detention center in Kenosha, Wis.

According to media reports, ICE officials say they don’t track the number of deported green card-carrying military veterans. Advocates say there are at least 2,000 U.S. veterans living in northern Mexico.

Image credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images News.