VICENTE GONZALEZ 113 CANNON House OFFICE BUILDING
15TH DISTRICT, TEXAS (202i 225-2531

«Enngress ui the üklm’teh ÉÍatBE
lanus“: uf Representatíhes
Washington, mill: 20515-4315

March 27, 2017

President Donald J. Trump
The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Trump:

I write to draw your attention to recent reports that U.S. military veterans are being deported. The
United States is home to 21,369,602 veterans and I represent close to 40,000 of them. Deporting our
veterans, many of whom are highly decorated and fought to save American lives, is a shameful and
avoidable act. I am working with my colleagues in the U.S. Congress to address this, and I call on you to
issue an Executive Order expediting the cítizenship process for honorany discharged veterans with no
criminal history prior to joining the military.

As you know, the vast majority of our current military members are U.S. Citizens; however, some of
those serving have not completed the cítizenship process. There are veterans from all eras who entered
military service as Iawful permanent residents that, despite their eligibility, did not obtain citizen status
during or after completing their service.

Under our current laws, a Iawful permanent resident veteran who is convicted of a non-Violent offense
or minor infraction could face deportation. Even more troubling, these veterans may be subject to
removal from the U.S. for conduct directly related to their service in combat. Honorably discharged
veterans, who risked their lives to defend and protect this country, suffer from post-traumatic stress
disorder and other service-connected conditions that lead to behaviors that put them at risk of being
deported. It is clear that by leaving these illnesses untreated, we are doing a disservice to our service
members and to our country. Further, once these veterans are deported, they lose access to VA home
loans, education, healthcare and other benefits they have properly ea rned through their service to our
country.

One of the ímpediments to solving this problem is that the federal government has not kept an official
record of how many of these veterans fit this criteria. By directing the Department of Homeland Security
to identify Iawful permanent resident veterans who were discharged or released from the Armed Forces
under honorable conditions; not including individuals who have been convicted of voluntary
manslaughter, murder, or rape as well as individuals whose enlistments or appointments in the Armed
Forces were procured in a fraudulent manner. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security
should expedite the processing of cítizenship applications and allow for veterans’ cítizenship status to be
considered during removal proceedings.

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While we may not agree on every aspect of ¡mmigration policy, changing this policy is an important first
step in uniting our country and supporting our veterans is something we can all agree on. When you ran
for president, you promised to take care of our veterans. This Executive Order would keep with those
promises.

Freedom isn't free. I encourage you to take ¡mmediate action and I look forward to working with you to
bring our heroes home.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please do not hesitate to contact me through my Chief
of Staff, Jose Borjon, at (202) 225-2531 with further questions. l stand ready to be a resource to you and
your staff.

Sincerely,

WWW

Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress