By Alexandra Mendoza

A group of undocumented veterans who had been deported to Mexico will arrive at the San Ysidro Port of Entry this Friday seeking a humanitarian permit that would allow them back into the United States to get the medical care they are entitled to by virtue of their military service.

The announcement comes in the wake of an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report that argues that the U.S. government has failed to provide citizenship to immigrants who have served in combat.

As a result, thousands of veterans have been deported by immigration authorities after committing misdemeanors, stated the report published by the human rights advocacy organization.

“By requiring deportation and stripping immigration courts of the power to consider military service, the United States government abandons these veterans by expelling them to foreign countries at the moment when they most need the government’s help to rehabilitate their lives after service,” said Bardis Vakili, ACLU’s attorney in California, who pointed out that this issue is proof of how broken the U.S. immigration system is.

The ACLU report studied the cases of 84 veterans who were deported – most of them to Mexico – and banished from the United States after serving their time for some minor offense. As a result, they have been unable to receive the medical care they would otherwise be entitled to; the lack of care has even led to the death of some of these veterans, said the ACLU report.

These veterans and their supporters will come to the Port of Entry precisely to demand this right to care.

Hector Barajas, founder and director of Casa de Atención a Veteranos Deportados en Tijuana, a Tijuana shelter for deported veterans, shared that this action will raise awareness of the situation and help in halting these deportations that are tearing families apart. “If President Obama really wants to honor veterans, he will also honor our service by stopping the deportation and repatriation of loyal members of the military and people who risked their lives for this country,” he stated in a press release.

After the ACLU report was published, Congressman Juan Vargas announced that he would be submitting a bill to Congress this coming week, which he hopes will stop deportations by proposing measures that would ensure that military servicemen are given a path to citizenship.

Stephanie Rabara, the daughter of veteran Enrique Salas, who was deported to Mexico,  said that they are hopeful that new legislation will help eradicate this problem.

“I hope they can change the law, and that no more veterans are deported, for members of the Armed Forces to automatically obtain citizenship,” she said. “They’re veterans, and they have done more for this country than many other American citizens.”

Her father’s case was one of many cited in the ACLU report. Salas, a U.S. Marine who lived in the U.S. since he was six, served in the Persian Gulf War. In 2006. Salas was deported to Mexico after serving time for drug possession.

Among the recommendations issued by the ACLU to the federal government are to restore the judicial discretion that would allow judges to consider military service in cases involving potential deportation. It also asks agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement to abstain from deporting active members of the military and those who received honorable discharges.