When we think of those people who are
deported from the U.S., we often have images
of undocumented Latinx folks from Mexico and
Central America. In reality, many Black people
are among those who are deported, and some of
them have served in the U.S. military.
Yes, if you can believe it. Hundreds if
not thousands of military
veterans who are not American citizens have
been deported after serving this country. This
includes Black people who were enlisted
servicemembers and were promised citizenship.
And they were later sent to the Caribbean,
Africa, Europe and elsewhere after living in
America for years and risking their own lives
in the military. They want to return. And why
shouldn’t they?
One of those is deported David
Bariu was in the country with an F-1 student
visa and, not unlike others, was promised a
path to citizenship, education and the GI
Bill. But ICE picked him up during a
naturalization interview, and a Black man who
fought for America was thrown out of the
country.
“I served in the US Army active duty from
1999 to 2001. Also served in the USAFR from
2002 to 2007. Honorably discharged. I was
detained by ICE from 2007 to 2008 before
deportation to Kenya, East Africa. Under the
Biden administration, the government had
promised to repatriate deported US Veterans.
Some of the Veterans have gone back but none
from Africa,” Bariu said.
Bariu has applied for citizenship, but
says the process is long. Meanwhile, the Army
recruiter who lured Bariu with deceptively
false promises was court-martialed.
There are no official records of the
number of Black deported veterans. However,
there are names such as Rudi
Richardson in London, Jeff
Brown and Charlie
Brown in Jamaica and others. “Others
reside in Dominican Republic, Trinidad and
Haiti. In Africa some are in Nigeria, Sierra
Leone and Tanzania,” Bariu said. “And the
stories go on. We need to be heard and brought
back home.”
The situation facing
deported veterans reflects a larger legacy of
racial discrimination and injustice against
Black veterans and other veterans of color.
“How this country treats Black and Brown
veterans. I’ve never met a White deported
veteran,” said Amos Gregory, co-founder of The San Francisco Veterans Mural
Project, also known as Veterans
Alley, a community based mural project located
in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. Gregory has been
advocating for the return of Black deported
veterans, who have not received the same
attention as Latinx veterans.
“When you look at the
statistics for unhoused veterans, 40 percent
are black. When you look at the GI bills, the
VA loans and predatory banks not lending to
Black people, and Black families could’ve been
living in those houses for generations, but
they didn’t get it because of the banks,”
Gregory added.
Since the very earliest days, Black
people have fought for an America that never
fought for them, and the country will use them
and spit them out. After serving the empire
and serving their purpose for Uncle Sam, these
Black vets are cast aside. We must bring them
back.
