A U.S. Army veteran who was deported to Mexico has returned to the United States and is now an American citizen.
Ivan Ocon, who served in the Army for more than six years before being deported to Mexico in 2016, took his oath of citizenship in El Paso, Texas on July 7.
“This is an emotional day, and I’m so grateful to be reunited with my family. I want to thank everyone who worked on my behalf over the last six years to make this moment possible,” said Ocon in a release. “This country is my home, and I will continue to fight to make sure that other veterans like me get the justice they deserve.”
Ocon grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and was a legal permanent resident during his time in the Army. While serving, he deployed to Jordan during the Iraq War.
In 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in kidnapping a victim who “had not attained the age of 18 years” from a home in El Paso, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The victim was taken to Mexico, and Ocon made the ransom demands. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and aiding and abetting kidnapping and another charge regarding his use of a firearm. Ocon was demoted and deported for the crime.
While in Mexico, he joined a community of deported veterans and worked on their behalf.
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Yale University’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic and the AFL-CIO; the Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO (UVC); the Deported Veterans Support House; and Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic all advocated for Ocon’s return to the United States.
“Justice has finally been served for Ivan and his family, and we look forward to helping more of our deported veterans return home where they belong,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.
In September of 2021, Yale’s Legal Services Clinic filed a naturalization petition on behalf of Ocon. Several months later, with the help of El Paso counsel Coyle & Benoit, the clinic students petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to vacate Ocon’s firearms petition. That motion was granted in March of 2022.
The team filed an application for humanitarian parole for Ocon, which was granted, and he was able to enter the U.S. on the morning of July 5 via El Paso. He passed his naturalization interview and civics test the following day. Ocon took the oath of citizenship in a ceremony on July 7.
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“Ivan’s story is a phenomenal victory, not only for himself and his family but for the entire deported veterans movement who fought side-by-side with him, especially Repatriate our Patriots,” said Nate Urban, a member of the clinic who worked on the case and traveled to El Paso for Ocon’s citizenship interview and ceremony, in a release.
A 2019 Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. government does not keep track of deported veterans and Urban noted that a law enacted last year allows the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to fund legal services, including for deported veterans. However, the VA has yet to provide this funding.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.