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Upon retiring from military service, Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry received a United States flag and a letter of thanks, calling him a hero whose service to America would never be forgotten. Due to injuries Chaudhry sustained while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Chaudhry now uses a wheelchair. He currently lives in Washington state and has been married to a US citizen for years. But Chaudhry himself is not a citizen – he is a green card-holder. Despite his years of national service and roots in the US he is now being threatened with deportation due to, what he says, is a technicality relating to his application for citizenship. Reporting for the AP last October, Juliana Barbassa wrote that approximately 8,000 immigrants with similar legal resident status enlist in the military annually, and there are currently about about 17,000 immigrants in service. Thousands of veterans are facing deportation or have already been removed from the US for a range of crimes, but many are non-violent offenders, although many like Chaudhry have never broken any laws. Barbassa found that the US government has not kept data on the deportations of veterans, although it may begin to. The immigration and deportation processes are complex and murky, and it seems that even immigrants who put their lives on the line for their adopted country are not helped on their road to citizenship.

GUEST: Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, decorated war veteran facing deportation

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Find out more at www.weareoneamerica.org, www.americasvoiceonline.org, www.justice4chaudhry.info, and www.keepzahidhome.org.