On Thursday morning, a small group of advocates assembled outside the federal courthouse in San Diego, California.
One of the advocates pointed to a poster depicting a young man in a U.S. Navy uniform, adorned with three gold medals.
“This is my brother, Benito Miranda Hernandez, a U.S. Navy veteran,” said James Smith, founder of Black Deported Veterans of America.
Smith and the other advocates organized the demonstration on behalf of Hernandez, who was then detained in an immigration facility located miles away.
Born in Mexico and brought to the United States as an infant, Hernandez completed three tours of duty with the U.S. military during the Iraq war, viewing his service as a pathway to citizenship.
Today, Hernandez joins a growing number of immigrant veterans contesting deportation under President Donald Trump.
“These men and women were promised citizenship if they served,” Smith said. “Help this brother return home.”
Trump has vowed to prioritize immigrants with criminal records in his campaign for mass deportation.
Advocates for U.S. military personnel contend that veterans are especially vulnerable due to their higher representation in prisons and jails, and many have reported mental health challenges after service.
Hernandez explained that reintegration into civilian life was difficult after his discharge, but on June 14 he finally completed a lengthy sentence for a drug conviction.
While awaiting his mother, Maria Miranda, to collect him, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained him.
Afterward, Miranda and her other son arrived and spent hours searching for him, unaware of his whereabouts.
“He was doing the right thing,” Miranda told Al Jazeera in Spanish. “He had so many hopes and dreams.”
Hernandez was subsequently transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and now faces deportation, despite having obtained his green card earlier this year. He previously spoke with Al Jazeera about his experience for an article published in April.
His detention reflects a broader trend under the Trump administration.
Although the exact number of deported veterans is difficult to determine — ICE has long failed to record veteran status for detainees — several advocates have observed an increase in deportations of U.S. veterans during Trump’s second term.
The New York Times reported in March that at least 34 veterans have entered deportation proceedings in the past year.
While some cases have attracted media attention, advocates note that many immigrant veterans avoid publicity, fearing it could harm their immigration prospects.
“As ICE raids continue and intensify nationwide, veterans who have not yet become citizens risk falling through the cracks,” said Robert Vivar, cofounder of the Tijuana‑based Unified US Deported Veterans Resource Center.
Veterans, alongside other immigrants, are often detained while completing mandatory immigration procedures, according to Danitza James, president of Repatriate our Patriots, an advocacy organization.
They are frequently flagged for outstanding warrants or criminal convictions that have not been vacated. James said she is in contact with roughly six veterans detained by ICE in 2026 alone.
“Our government shows little value for the service of immigrant veterans,” James, a veteran and naturalized citizen, told Al Jazeera. “They truly view us as disposable.”
For decades, the U.S. military has recruited immigrants to fill staffing shortages in overseas conflicts.
Recruiters frequently tell immigrant enlistees that military service provides a fast track to naturalized citizenship.
In theory this should hold, yet many deployed immigrant soldiers, including Hernandez, have experienced delays in their naturalization processes.
By the time Hernandez was summoned for his citizenship interview in 2006, two years had elapsed since his final deployment, and a criminal conviction had already occurred, resulting in a denied citizenship application.
The inability to protect immigrant veterans mirrors broader governmental failures to address its military policies, according to advocates such as Smith.
“The United States government is failing to assume responsibility for what it has created,” Smith told Al Jazeera. “We are brought in, stripped of part of our humanity, and sent to kill without consequences.”
“Then, when you leave, there is no support process to prepare you for civilian life,” he added.
Several legislative proposals aimed at safeguarding immigrant veterans are currently under congressional consideration, while recruiters continue to target immigrant communities with promises of expedited citizenship.
The next steps for Hernandez remain uncertain. At Thursday’s rally, a lawyer from a local immigration nonprofit indicated that the organization might be willing to assist with his case.
Meanwhile, Hernandez’s mother works to keep his spirits up.
Miranda receives his calls from the ICE detention center and visits him during the facility’s Saturday visiting hours. The two‑hour drive from Anaheim to San Diego strains her health.
“On Saturday, when I saw him, he was profoundly depressed,” Miranda told Al Jazeera.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to cause you any more problems. I don’t want to upset you, Mom. I’m doing the right thing. I’m praying for myself,’” Miranda recalled, tears in his eyes.
“They clipped the wings of a bird, and all his hopes were discarded like trash,” he said.”
