Veteran who served 3 tours in Iraq War facing possible deportation

A Navy veteran who served during the Iraq War is now at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, facing possible deportation.

A Navy veteran who served during the Iraq War is now at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, facing possible deportation. He has an extensive criminal history, as his mother and advocates contend he was a shell of himself after returning from his deployments, pointing to systemic failures in caring for those who have served.

Benito Miranda Hernandez and his mother Maria Miranda came to the U.S. from Mexico as green card holders when he was a young child, she said. He later joined the Navy and served three tours of duty during the Iraq War.

“When he came back, that’s when I said, ‘This isn’t my son anymore,’” Miranda said in Spanish. “He wasn’t even a shadow of the little boy who left.”

A search of court records turned up an extensive criminal history. Hernandez has spent years in prison on various felony drug and weapons convictions, as well as violations of probation, in Virginia and California.

“All they taught him there was to shoot,” Miranda said in Spanish. “They took him to Iraq and taught him that. I don’t justify it. I know that what he did was wrong. But he had to survive.”