Legislation on deported veterans itself is a deep subject, much less for deported women veterans. The only known woman veteran to go public is Laura Meza, who was deported from the US at 28 years old. But that does not mean Ms. Laura Meza is the only one out there. The most common reason why veterans are deported is that they become convicted criminals in one way or another. It is already known that mental health conditions can increase the chances of someone becoming a convicted criminal. It is also known that veterans are more likely to develop mental health conditions. So it should not surprise anyone to know that 1 in 3 veterans have been arrested. Per Military.com, 35,000 non-citizens are serving in active-duty military, and about 8,000 join each year. In 2021, women made up 17.3% of the active-duty force, totaling 231,741 members. So, it is conceivable that there are more women veterans than Ms. Laura Meza.

 

Sadly, there has not been a single piece of legislation that has passed for deported veterans, again, much less for women veterans. The closest to having one passed is H.R. 7946 – Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022, which passed the House on December 6, 2022, but did not proceed further than the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. So, it died when the 117th Congressional Session ended. While many veterans find themselves in trouble and can find refuge in Veterans Treatment Court, the VTC is not offered anywhere, and they only apply to non-violent crimes. So some non-citizen veterans will still fall through the cracks and find themselves deported.