The United States is not supposed to target or deport immigrants without first considering their military service, which could make them eligible to remain in the U.S. under laws passed by Congress.

But a government report found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not consistently screen immigrants for military service nor does it consistently consider their military background before deporting them.

As a result, the agency does not know the exact number of veterans it has deported, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office. The agency may have deported veterans who qualified to remain in the U.S. had the agency considered their military service as required, the report found.

ICE targeted at least 250 immigrant veterans for deportation and deported at least 84 noncitizen veterans between 2013 and 2018, according to the report.

The actual number of noncitizen veterans targeted and deported during that time period could be higher because ICE does not consistently ask about military service, the report noted.

"Because ICE does not maintain complete electronic data on potentially removable veterans it encounters, ICE does not know exactly how many veterans have been placed in removal proceedings or removed, or if their cases have been handled according to ICE’s policies," the report said.

The report also found that the number of immigrants in the military applying for citizenship dropped 72% between fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Immigrants who receive citizenship as a result of their military service cannot be deported.

New rules adopted by the Department of Defense under the Trump administration have made it harder for immigrants in the military to apply for citizenship, according to Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney who specializes in immigration cases involving military personnel.

As a result, the number of immigrant veterans deported by ICE will likely increase, according to Stock.

"We should acknowledge the fact that they put their lives on the line for our country and they don’t deserve to be deported," said Stock, who is also a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve.

The findings of the government's report are not surprising, Stock said.

"They have confirmed what I have known for more than 10 years," Stock said. She said ICE "doesn’t care if they are deporting veterans. Their motive is to deport as many people as possible and don’t care if they are deporting veterans."

Stock said veterans are often put in deportation proceedings after they have been convicted of crimes, but sometimes those crimes are related to having post-traumatic stress disorder related to their combat duty.

Veterans who are deported after conviction and serving time are being punished twice, Stock said

In addition, as the report noted, deported veterans have difficulty accessing VA benefits they are still entitled to despite their deportation, she said.

"I think most people know it’s not fair. They have already done their time for the crime, why should they have the additional penalty where we kick them out of the U.S. and prevent them from getting access to their military benefits?" Stock said.

ICE adopted policies requiring that veterans to be given extra consideration based on their military service before being deported during the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

At the time, the military was struggling with recruitment shortages amid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The policies were intended to ensure the agency didn't deport veterans who might be eligible to remain in the U.S. under laws passed by Congress, Stock said.

The policies are "to acknowledge the special place that Americans have in their hearts for veterans," Stock said. "We honor people who are willing to put their lives on the line for America, particularly noncitizens. They don’t have, if you will, a moral obligation to help out a country that is not their own and yet we have a long tradition of immigrants serving in our military, serving honorably, fighting in our wars. And we have often rewarded them with citizenship. We have special laws that provide special immigration benefits for them."

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said he was troubled by the report's findings that ICE is deporting veterans without considering their military service as required.

Gallego has sponsored legislation that would allow deported veterans not convicted of serious crimes to return to the United States.

“Deportation is no way to thank the people who put their lives on the line to serve and defend our country," Gallego said in a written statement. "The fact that the Trump administration has ‘no idea’ how many veterans they may have deported and is breaking their own policies to expedite deporting veterans is deeply troubling.

He cited his own military experience in the same statement.

"As a Marine Corps combat veteran, I am appalled to imagine the immigrants that stood next to me on the battlefield being separated from their families and the country that they love and fought for," he said. "The Trump administration must take immediate action to correct this grave problem.”

In a letter to the GAO, Department of Homeland Security program manager Jim Crumpacker said ICE recognizes that veterans warrant special consideration of their military service before a decision is made about whether they should be placed in deportation proceedings or deported.

But Crumpacker said that in "100 percent" of the cases reviewed by the GAO investigation, veterans were deported because of felony convictions "related to drugs, sexual abuse, of which 18 involved minors; firearms; explosives or explosive material; kidnapping or terrorist threats."

Stock disputed DHS's claim that ICE deports only veterans convicted of serious crimes.

"That is actually not true," she said.

She said she has represented veterans who were placed in deportation proceedings who hadn't committed any crimes, or had only committed minor crimes, including a Marine veteran who ICE tried to deport over punching someone in a bar fight before he joined the military.

Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-8312. Follow him on Twitter @azdangonzalez.

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