Veteran completes 45 day US-Mexico border walk

U.S. Marine spreading awareness about veteran deportations - News 11's Wiley Jawhary reports

IMPERIAL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - A 45-day walk, and sometimes through the scorching heat. Ramon Castro, a Brawley veteran, completed his trek across the southwest on Wednesday August 11. His end goal, to bring deported veterans back home.

The American Veterans Homefront Initiative says veterans who are legal residents but not citizens are getting deported for minor crimes.

Castro who is a former U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant, says many are getting expelled for DUIs and incidents related to post-traumatic stress disorder. Although he feels accomplished, he says that the job is not finished.

RELATED: Brawley veteran to walk entire US-Mexico border

"We're also going to approach individual governors, like Governor Newsom," he said.

Castro says the walk is over, but the heavy lifting starts now. He also looks to make a trip to Washington D.C to engage in discussions that would ultimately bring deported veterans back to the country they served.

"We will start this process in California and then move to other states, we will also reach out to the port of entries to assist us," he said.

According to NPR, a report revealed that an estimated 92 veterans were deported from 2013 to 2018. Some in California are expected to get deported soon, something Castro is trying to avoid.

“If they were to receive a governor's pardon they would then begin the process of staying here instead of getting deported," he said.

Castro says it's much harder to bring veterans back once they are deported. He plans on opening a discussion with various governors to see what can be done to avoid having more veterans deported.