Activists Outside Obama Home Plead With President To Help Deported Veterans
WBBM's Steve Miller
(CBS) -- A couple dozen demonstrators marched outside President Obama's home in the Kenwood neighborhood Monday, trying to get the president to let deported veterans back in the country.
Leading the demonstration was immigration rights activist Emma Lozano.
She spoke about 36-year-old Miguel Perez, who came to the U.S. when he was 8. Raised in Chicago, he joined the military and did two tours in Afghanistan.
But unlike the rest of his family, he never became an American citizen.
"The country failed him and betrayed him because they didn't give him the citizenship that he so much deserves," Lozano said.
Standing with Perez's family at the demonstration was his best friend, Carlos Roman.
"I do remember when he came back, he didn't look the same. I knew something was wrong with him. He was getting in trouble," he said.
Roman says Perez is in prison on drug charges and faces deportation to Mexico in the fall.
"I just don't think that's a way to treat a hero."
