U.S. Military and Veterans Policy

The Trump administration has begun deportation proceedings against 34 former U.S. service members in the last year, part of a broader shift that scrapped prior guidance giving immigrants who served in the military, and their families, special consideration in immigration enforcement. Federal data obtained by The New York Times show 125 former service members were arrested over immigration violations in that period, and 248 relatives of ex‑service members were also placed into deportation proceedings. The change reverses Biden‑era policy that generally avoided detaining or deporting veterans with criminal records and explicitly tried not to target their relatives, with current DHS officials now arguing that no one should be exempt from the immigration laws requiring removal after certain convictions. DHS declined to say how many of those arrested have actually been deported but defended the new approach, even as advocates highlight cases like Purple Heart recipient Sae Joon Park, who left Hawaii for South Korea in June under threat of deportation despite not having lived there since age seven and suffering from a service‑related disability and undiagnosed PTSD. The policy shift raises fresh questions about how the U.S. treats noncitizen veterans and whether military service should carry any lasting protection in the immigration system.