Melbourne, Australia—In yet another shocking betrayal to America, the Trump Administration, which claims to “love” our nation’s service members and veterans, has in fact deported or started deportation proceedings for numerous military-connected individuals, often without a court appearance nor presenting valid evidence for doing so. As a result of military-related deportations, service members have stated they have no intention of reenlisting or continuing service with their commission. The administration also continues to utilize military personnel for non-defense matters, thereby threatening military readiness and national security capacity.
For instance, Marlon Parris – a foreign-born U.S. Army veteran who has lawfully lived in the U.S. for three decades and twice deployed to Iraq in defense of our country – was snatched from U.S. airport agents when simply coming back from a vacation abroad.
In the case of Nicole Saroukos, a foreign spouse with no criminal record married to a U.S. active duty service member, border patrol agents in Hawaii detained her for having “too much luggage,” imprisoned her overnight without food, and ultimately deported her.
The foreign-born spouse of an active duty U.S. Coast Guardsman was taken into custody while on-base in Florida, detained by immigration authorities, and is now set for deportation.
Alma Bowman, the daughter of a combat veteran who was deployed to the South Pacific during the Vietnam era, was recently detained by immigration agents despite being a U.S. citizen born on foreign soil to a U.S. citizen who was serving on active duty.
According to news reports, a U.S. military installation in California is now under consideration by the administration to inappropriately detain immigrants—a wholly improper use of military resources, to say the least.
An undocumented immigrant grandmother named Ana Camero was recently driving home from work and accidentally missed a turn and ended up at the gate of a U.S. base, only to be detained and now set for deportation. Having the Armed Forces act as an immigration checkpoint is yet another improper use of Defense Department resources.
And the disturbing anti-military news in the press and media goes on and on. This administration is damaging the reputation of the U.S. military community and it appears they have no interest in righting each of these wrongs. As noted in the 2024 Democrats Abroad Platform, the Democrats Abroad Global Veterans and Military Families (VMF) Caucus strongly supports the issue of repatriating deported veterans, and Michael Ramos, the current VMF Chair, provided additional thoughts.
“It is nothing less than outrageous for America’s Commander-in-Chief to blatantly attack the military community. It’s been incredible to think that the military community’s voting rights have recently been thrown on the chopping block, and now the Armed Forces are apparently doing the dirty work of ICE. Meanwhile, our nation’s service members now have to worry about their families getting ripped apart, and veterans are dealing with the new reality of an administration who won’t hesitate to stab them in the back. But make no mistake, the VMF Caucus will continue to be both vocal and critical of the administration’s betrayal of trust to our military-connected communities,” Ramos said. “The president, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and more –none of them are qualified for the national security jobs they’re in. We know it, and the voters know it. And everyone defending the extremist ‘M.A.G.A.’ agenda will be held accountable at the ballot box.”
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U.S. citizens living abroad, both civilian and military, are highly encouraged to check your voter registration status and request your ballot for any upcoming elections in your home voting state that you are eligible to vote in.
The VMF Caucus, proudly consisting of veterans, military family members, and strong allies of veterans and military family causes, has a membership of approximately 1,300 members located in dozens of countries.
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