Lawful permanent residents are eligible to serve in the U.S. military. They are all enlisted personnel because officer must be U.S. citizens.
There are no statistics on how many vets get deported, but one fact is a given: the deportation of veterans has increased in the last 20 years because of changes to immigration laws. More crimes are now classed as so-called aggravated felonies, which means the offenders are not eligible for any relief in immigration court that would allow them to remain in the U.S. There's no 212(c) relief available to anyone convicted after April 24, 1996. And a judicial recommendation against deportation (JRAD) is no longer possible.
There are 4 ways to stop this problem:
1) Persuade DHS to exercise prosecutorial discretion
2) Persuade Congress to pass a law that provides relief in immigration court specifically for veterans
3) Put in place procedures to ensure every veteran gets U.S. citizenship no later than 6 months after discharge
4) Find older veterans who are not U.S. citizens and figure out what needs to be done to help them become U.S. citizens or try to modify their criminal convictions to render them not deportable if citizenship is not possible
The easiest solution is #3, but that helps only recent veterans. The most challenging group is older veterans. The challenge is finding them.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/newsheadlines/archive/2014/05/15/congress-must-act-and-stop-deporting-our-veterans-margaret-d-stock.aspx
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