Benito Miranda Hernandez, a Navy veteran who completed three tours during the Iraq War, is currently confined at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California, awaiting a possible removal order. Hernandez entered the United States from Mexico as a child with his mother, Maria Miranda, as a green‑card holder.
Service and family perspective
After his service, Miranda says her son was “no longer the boy who left.” She told reporters in Spanish that the war changed him, and she worries about the mental‑health toll the experience took. “When he came back, that’s when I said, ‘This isn’t my son anymore,’” she said.
Criminal history and incarceration
Court records show Hernandez has spent years behind bars for multiple felony drug and weapons convictions, as well as probation violations in Virginia and California. He was released from a California state prison in 2025 into a re‑entry program that allowed him to work, attend classes, and wear an ankle monitor while living in a halfway house in Barrio Logan.
In November 2025, his green‑card status was reinstated, and advocates celebrated his progress. However, in June 2026, federal immigration agents took him into custody as he was leaving the re‑entry program. When his mother arrived to pick him up, she found he had already been transferred to the detention center.
Advocates raise concerns
Hector Barajas, an Army veteran who was once deported but later regained citizenship, argues that veterans with mental‑health issues should receive care, not removal. “We have homeless veterans. We have veterans that take their lives. Having a mental health issue and issues with the law – it does happen, and we have to learn how to take care of them, not deport them and throw them away,” Barajas said.
James L. Smith II, an Army veteran and founder of the Black Deported Veterans of America support group, noted that about one‑third of military veterans have an arrest record, compared with one‑fifth of civilians, according to a 2023 Council on Criminal Justice report. Smith blamed a lack of re‑conditioning for civilian life and called on Congress to address the gap.
Immigration enforcement data
In a letter to members of Congress earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that it arrested 125 former service members in the first year after President Donald Trump returned to office, with roughly a third facing active criminal warrants.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on Hernandez’s specific case.
Family worries and broader implications
Miranda expressed deep concern for her son’s mental health while in detention, describing his anger and resentment. “I don’t have anything against the government, but I would say to mothers: don’t let your children go, because you give them a healthy, whole child. What comes back is nothing like what you gave them,” she said through tears.
The case highlights a tension between immigration enforcement and the nation’s duty to care for those who have served. Advocates argue that deporting veterans with PTSD and a history of criminal behavior undermines the promise to support those who defended the country, while immigration officials maintain that the law applies equally to all.
What’s next?
Hernandez’s removal hearing is pending. His mother and veteran advocates plan to continue pressing for a review of his case, emphasizing the need for mental‑health treatment and a pathway to remain in the United States after his service.
Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.
