A U.S. congressman from Texas has called on his fellow lawmakers to force President Donald Trump to stop deporting U.S. veterans.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (R-TX) told Rio Grande Guardian that "around 1,400" veterans who were not U.S. citizens -- but fought for the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan -- had been deported in recent years.
Gonzalez said that he is "looking for a Republican colleague to join me" in co-sponsoring a bill that would allow immigrant veterans to stay in the U.S.
"It is the most American thing to do," he explained. "To take of our veterans who fought for us. Many were highly decorated veterans that were in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of them came home with high levels of PTSD. We didn’t offer them the mental health care they needed to transition them back into society."
"These are folks who have never had any legal trouble in their life," the congressman pointed out. "They were discharged honorably. They get into a little trouble and they are deported.”
Gonzalez called the deportations were "a real indictment on our country."
"If you fought for this country, you certainly deserve to live in it," he said.