SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Jesus “Chuy” Juarez was only 17 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps.
He’d convinced his parents to sign a waiver so recruiters would allow him to sign up, and he served for three years during the Vietnam War.
While taking part in a military training exercise, he fell off a truck and was badly hurt.
The injuries he suffered on that day were misdiagnosed and never treated properly, according to family and friends.
“That accident back in 1975 caused him a life from that point forward of pain,” said Robert Vivar, of the Unified U.S. Deported Veterans Resource Center. “He struggled to be able to deal with the pain from the injuries he sustained.”
Juarez also struggled with being away from home.
He was raised in Sherman Heights near downtown San Diego.
But he was deported for having undocumented migrants in his car and would spend almost 30 years waiting to come back home to the U.S.
Vivar says a few weeks back, he got a message from Juarez asking for help. He had called others, too, complaining of intense pain in his leg.
By the time they got him to a hospital in Tijuana, it was too late. Juarez died the next day on March 17.
The official cause of death has not been made public.
“He died waiting to come home,” said Vivar.
Juarez was among the hundreds of foreign-born veterans of the U.S. armed forces who lost their lawful immigration status after being convicted of crimes.
Even when his mother was dying, his request for permission to visit her was rejected, Vivar said.
“Mother was dying, his request for permission to visit her was rejected,” Vivar said.
“We thought at least he would be able to be with her in her last days, but that was impossible, we thought at least he would be here for her funeral, that was not possible either, it got denied.”
Vivar said lawyers from the Immigrant Defenders Law Center were in the process of trying once again to get Juarez to the U.S. so he could get medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but he died waiting for a response.
“We have many vets around the world still waiting to come home to get medical treatment, to visit family, whatever the case may be,” said Vivar. “Here in Tijuana alone, there are 15 to 20 veterans. I know for a fact we got at least five that if they don’t get medical care soon, they might not be with us much longer.”
Vivar says these veterans could be saved, and Juarez might still be alive if Congress passed legislation that has been on the table for a few years.
“This is not an immigration issue, it’s a veterans issue,” he said. “We need them to work together across the aisle like they did for the Ukraine aid bill to sign the Veterans Service Recognition Act so that not one more of our Veterans has to die in exile without receiving proper medical care they deserve and are entitled to.”
Juarez died a month before his 68th birthday. He leaves his wife, Elizabeth, three children, and six grandsons behind.