Navy veteran detained by ICE after prison release faces deportation
Benito Miranda Hernandez, a U.S. Navy veteran brought from Mexico as a baby, was detained after serving a drug sentence, Al Jazeera reported.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
U.S. Navy veteran Benito Miranda Hernandez was detained by immigration agents after finishing a prison sentence for a drug conviction, Al Jazeera reported. His case has become a test for advocates who say immigrant veterans are being pulled into deportation proceedings despite service in the U.S. military.
According to Al Jazeera, Hernandez was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 14 as he waited for his mother to pick him up after completing his sentence. He is being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and faces deportation, the outlet reported.
Hernandez was brought to the United States from Mexico when he was a baby, according to Al Jazeera. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Iraq war and completed three tours of duty, the outlet reported. He received a green card for permanent residency earlier this year, according to Al Jazeera.
Advocates rallied Thursday outside a federal courthouse in San Diego on Hernandez’s behalf, Al Jazeera reported. James Smith, founder of Black Deported Veterans of America, identified Hernandez from a poster showing him in Navy uniform and said immigrant service members had been told military service would lead to citizenship.
Hernandez’s mother, Maria Miranda, told Al Jazeera in Spanish that her son had been trying to rebuild his life and had plans for the future. She and another son spent hours looking for him after his release, not knowing ICE had detained him, according to the report.
Al Jazeera reported that Hernandez had expected military service to help him become a U.S. citizen. His naturalization process was delayed while he was deployed, and by the time he was called for a citizenship interview in 2006, he had a criminal conviction and his application was rejected, according to the outlet.
The case comes during President Donald Trump’s renewed push for deportations of immigrants with criminal records, according to Al Jazeera. Advocates told the outlet that immigrant veterans can be at particular risk because many have criminal records after military service and many report mental health problems when they return to civilian life.
ICE has not consistently collected veteran status for people it detains, despite a requirement to do so, making the number of deported veterans difficult to determine, Al Jazeera reported. The New York Times reported in March that at least 34 veterans had been placed in deportation proceedings over the previous year.
Robert Vivar, cofounder of the Unified US Deported Veterans Resource Center in Tijuana, told Al Jazeera that some veterans who have not become citizens are likely to be caught up in immigration enforcement. Danitza James, president of Repatriate our Patriots and a veteran who became a U.S. citizen, told the outlet she had been in contact with about six veterans detained by ICE in 2026.
Several bills meant to protect immigrant veterans are pending in Congress, Al Jazeera reported. At the San Diego rally, a lawyer with a local immigration nonprofit told advocates the group might help with Hernandez’s case, though his next legal steps were unclear, according to the outlet.
Miranda told Al Jazeera she speaks with her son by phone from detention and visits him on Saturdays, despite the difficult two-hour drive from Anaheim to San Diego. She said he appeared depressed during a recent visit and told her he was praying and trying to do the right thing.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.