RAMON CASTRO WALKS U.S.-MEXICO BORDER FOR DEPORTED VETERANS

Ramon Castro at Journey's End, Boca Chica Beach
Brownsville Herald photo by Denise Cathey

My late father-in-law, Manuel Perez, a native of Ciudad Victoria, MX, became a U.S. citizen by joining the U.S. Army during World War II.

He eventually served 30 years, through the Korean War and the Vietnam era, with two tours in Germany, before retiring around 1970, but then worked a decade more for the U.S. Border Patrol.

His family enjoyed full VA benefits and his widow, a VA retirement check until she died.

Mr. Perez was buried in at Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens, Old Port Isabel Road, Brownsville with full military honors, including a 21 gun salute by a local veterans group.

For the last 25 years, though, non-citizens who joined any of the branches of our military and were honorably discharged, have not automatically received citizenship despite their service.

Countless soldiers have been deported back to their country of birth, despite their service and honorable discharge.

Ramon Castro of #walktheline, just finished a 1584 mile walk from Tijuana, Mexico to Brownsville's Boca Chica beach to draw attention to the deportations of veterans taking place in this country.

"When I first heard veterans were being deported like this, I thought it was a joke," Castro commented.

Castro met the first such deportee in Mexico and recently honored the man at his burial.

"He passed away this past May, so we had to deliver a flag.  We had a flag ceremony, another veteran and myself, and we delivered that flag to the family.

An American flag for an American Marine on foreign soil, which I thought was very shameful."