SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The southern border is 1,954 miles long and Ramon Castro plans on walking every single one of them within 45 days.
A week from today, Castro, a United States Marine Corps veteran and founder of the American Veterans Homefront Initiative, will set off on a journey to walk the length of the U.S.- Mexico Border as a way to “bring the needed awareness to seek immediate relief for deported American veterans who have served their country.”
American veterans who are legal residents but not U.S. citizens are being deported back to their original countries.
The U.S. government does not have a policy to protect veterans from deportation when they run into legal problems, often resulting in immediate deportation.
According to AVHI, there are no exact figures as to how many vets have been deported.
The walk is part of a “call to action” with three goals in mind asking the Biden-Harris administration and U.S. Congress to take “swift and bold actions to help deported American veterans who have served their country proudly.”
The three goals as outlined by the organization are:
- Implement, streamline the process for service members and veterans to become citizens immediately.
- Halt deportation of American veterans.
- Pardon all American veterans who have been deported and bring them home.
Castro’s so-called “Walk the Line: A March to Bring Our Deported Veterans Home,” is slated to begin June 28 in San Diego and end Aug. 11 near Brownsville, Texas. He plans on making stops along the way and cross the border to visit with deported veterans at shelters.
According to AVHI, it works with several organizations nationwide and in Mexico. The organization is based in Brawley, CA.
Castro currently serves as a Brawley City Councilman and spent seven-years in the Marine Corps.