An Arizona resident who has lived in the U.S. legally for decades―and even fought a war for the country―may be deported, after an immigration judge’s ruling on Friday.

Iraq War veteran Marlon Parris, who moved to the U.S. from the Caribbean in 1997 and was repeatedly issued Green Cards, was detained in January earlier this year.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) had previously ruled the Green Card holder should be allowed to stay in the U.S. despite serving prison time for a drugs offense back in 2011 because the crime was nonviolent.

However, airport officials confiscated his Green Card in 2023 when he returned from a vacation abroad with his wife. Parris was still embroiled in the legal process to have his card returned when he was unexpectedly pulled over in his car by ICE officials in January, who reportedly told him he was “on a list” to be detained and he now faces deportation.

The 2011 decision should be honored. It is grossly unfair to do otherwise 14 years later.

Iraq War veteran in US for nearly 30 years can be deported: Judge

Marlon Parris, who moved to the U.S. in 1997 and was repeatedly issued Green Cards, may be deported to Trinidad and Tobago.

https://www.newsweek.com/iraq-veteran-deported-immigration-marlon-parris-2070513