A new initiative from the Department of Homeland Security aims to help immigrants who are U.S. military veterans come back to the United States if they were deported.
The agency has partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to provide a portal where veterans can get connected with legal advisers and speak with a DHS representative about their options for returning to the U.S. with legal status if they’ve been previously deported.
The service will also connect veterans with government benefits and access to COVID-19 vaccines they may have been denied.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 allows legal U.S. residents, including veterans, to be deported if they’re charged with certain crimes — even minor or nonviolent offenses. Tens of thousands of veterans are thought to have been subject to the law over the years.
In a release this week, DHS said under its new initiative, dozens of veterans have accessed the system so far and several have also returned to the U.S.
Veterans can visit dhs.gov/immvets for more information.
