美国国家公共电台 NPR After Felony Conviction, Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation To Mexico

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There are about 90,000 military veterans in this country who are not American citizens - that's according to the Migration² Policy Institute. One of those veterans is a veteran of the Iraq War living in South Texas. He is now facing deportation⁴ over a felony conviction unless an immigration judge decides to let him stay. NPR's John Burnett has the story.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE⁵: The army veteran is husky and bearded and physically⁶ bigger than the Central American men who sit glumly⁷ on a bench in immigration court. Edgar Baltazar Garcia wore combat fatigues⁸ when he manned a .50-caliber machine gun nicknamed Lucifer (ph) in the turret⁹ of a Humvee when he was in Iraq 15 years ago. Today, his uniform is a red jail jumpsuit with the letters PIDC on the back - Port Isabel Detention¹⁰ Center. The judge calls the court to order.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARBARA GONZALEZ CIGARROA: This is the immigration court in Port Isabel, Texas. Immigration Judge Cigarroa presiding on March 6, 2019.

BURNETT: At this, the initial hearing, his attorney, Carlos Garcia, asks the judge to dismiss Baltazar's case.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CARLOS MOCTEZUMA GARCIA: He's an Iraqi War (ph) veteran who suffers from PTSD and is currently detained.

BURNETT: The judge denies the motion to terminate the case, and Baltazar is led with the others back to their cells. The infantryman, despite his combat medals, got into some serious trouble after he came home from war. In one incident, he pointed¹¹ a gun at his domestic partner. In a second incident, he punched her. She filed charges. Baltazar was found guilty of aggravated¹² assault on a family member with a deadly weapon. Because he served in Iraq, his case was moved to a special county court for veterans. There, he received a deferred¹³ sentence.

Things were going well. Baltazar was attending counseling sessions and passing drug and alcohol tests. In February, he drove to Mexico to see a nephew fight in a boxing match. When he tried to return to Texas, federal agents checked his record, spotted¹⁴ the felony and took him into custody¹⁵. His attorney, Carlos Garcia, says the way the law works, Baltazar could not be deported¹⁶ for his crime as long as he stayed in the U.S.

MOCTEZUMA GARCIA: But once you leave, and you come back, it's a completely different ball game because the rules at the port of entry are completely different for people who are entering the country and considered what they call arriving aliens.

BURNETT: Asked to comment on the case, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement referenced the Immigration and Nationality Act which says non-citizens who commit aggravated felonies are to be detained and processed for removal. Baltazar was born in Mexico. His parents brought him to the U.S. when he was 14. He never got around to getting his citizenship¹⁷. Baltazar speaks on a tinny phone line from inside the razor-wired detention camp.

EDGAR BALTAZAR GARCIA: Then we have citizens born in this country that they can go out and commit a crime...

BURNETT: He says, U.S. citizens can go out and commit a crime. They never fought for their country, and they're not deported. I make one mistake, and I have to pay the price by leaving the country.

Edgar Baltazar's woes¹⁸ are not a product of President Trump's crackdown on immigrants. The United States has been deporting¹⁹ convicted immigrant veterans for decades, and for decades, it's been sparking outrage²⁰. Congressman²¹ Vicente Gonzalez, in whose South Texas district Baltazar lives, has introduced the bill called the Repatriate²² Our Patriots²³ Act. It would prohibit the deportation of any honorably discharged veteran unless they're convicted of homicide, rape²⁴, terrorism or child sex crimes.

VICENTE GONZALEZ JR: And I think they should be punished for the crime that they commit. If they've got to go to jail, they've got to go to jail. If they're on probation²⁵, they're on probation. But we can't punish them twice, and we can't punish them permanently²⁶.

BURNETT: Gonzalez cited the case of Carlos Jaime Torres, a Vietnam vet¹ who was convicted of marijuana dealing²⁷ and deported in 2010. In December, he died in Reynosa, Mexico, where he'd been living in a cheap apartment.

GONZALEZ: Then he passed away and came back in a casket and had a full military service burial. And I just find that very hypocritical of our government.

BURNETT: The extensive veterans community in the Rio Grande Valley stands behind Edgar Baltazar.

FELIX RODRIGUEZ: He should be tried and adjudicated by the criminal justice system that he fought to maintain and not be deported.

BURNETT: Felix Rodriguez, a former Army intelligence specialist in Vietnam, attended Baltazar's hearing, he says, in solidarity²⁸ with a brother-in-arms. The VA clinic in the Rio Grande Valley diagnosed Baltazar with post-traumatic stress disorder²⁹ and traumatic brain injury. Studies indicate that service members and veterans who show PTSD symptoms are at a greater risk of what's called intimate partner violence. Felix Rodriguez says he sees it every week as an officer with the veterans court that was overseeing Baltazar's case.

RODRIGUEZ: Definitely there's a correlation³⁰, a relationship, between PTSD and risky³¹ behavior that lands them in our veterans treatment court.

BURNETT: As for the bill in Congress to stop deportations of veterans, its passage is a long shot. The sponsor says, in this climate, anything seen as an immigration bill has a rough road. But the congressman stresses this isn't an immigration bill - it's a veterans' rights bill. Edgar Baltazar's final hearing is at the end of this month. The judge will decide either to deport³ him or let him stay in the U.S.

John Burnett, NPR News.

1 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

4 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 glumly   

adv.忧郁地，闷闷不乐地；阴郁地

参考例句：

• He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
• The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里，磨着他的上牙，一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句

8 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

9 turret   

n.塔楼，角塔

参考例句：

• This ancient turret has attracted many visitors.这座古老的塔楼吸引了很多游客。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔楼攀登上了要塞的城墙。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

13 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

14 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

15 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

16 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

18 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

19 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

20 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

21 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

22 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

23 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

24 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

25 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

26 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

27 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

28 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

29 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

30 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

31 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。