Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Deported veterans are veterans, too

Memorial Day at Border Field State Park

Border Patrol agent Kris Stricklin explaining to people that they cannot come in until someone else leaves
Border Patrol agent Kris Stricklin explaining to people that they cannot come in until someone else leaves

A Memorial Day celebration at Border Field State Park dedicated to deported veterans suffered from blocked public access by the Border Patrol because of maximum-occupancy restrictions.

The event was organized by the Border Angels group in cooperation with the regular Sunday bilingual religious ceremony that takes place in the Friendship Park area — a kind of no-man's land between the old fence on the Mexico side of the border and the new fence (built in 2009) running parallel about 60 feet away.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of the agents on the scene, Kris Stricklin, said the Border Patrol was not notified in advance about the Memorial Day service and so were unable to have enough staff on hand to allow more than 25 visitors at a time. Stricklin said when they have enough staff to allow more visitors, "we do."

In addition to the usual honoring of veterans on Memorial Day, the Friendship Park service focused on Mexican-born vets, living and dead, who were deported despite their honorable discharges from the U.S. military.

Reverend John Fanestil, who was conducting the religious ceremony on the American side along with Pastor Guillermo Navarrette on the Mexican side, said during the service, "On this day, we remember the soldiers, honorably discharged, who were deported to Mexico."

Fanestil and Guillermo spoke into wireless microphones that transmitted to a sound system on the Mexican side of the fence; sound equipment is reputedly not allowed on the U.S. side.

Hector Barajas, attending in uniform, said he started serving with the Army's 87th Airborne Division in 1995 and was honorably discharged in 2001. Barajas said he was at the service not only "to commemorate all the people who died in combat" but also to support "all the vets who are being ignored despite having problems with drugs, PTSD, and emotional or psychological problems." Barajas said he was deported in 2004 after a prison term for discharging a firearm in a vehicle.

Border Angel volunteers wore T-shirts that read, "Who Would Jesus Deport?" while various speakers in Spanish and English testified about their experiences, some breaking into tears. An American flag, attached to the border fence on the Mexican side, was saluted by the deported vets while taps was played.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big bugs early in the season – Wahoo bonanza off Mag Bay

Bluefin at the Coronados
Next Article

Peaceful, eaze-y feeling

The evolution of San Diego's dope delivery
Border Patrol agent Kris Stricklin explaining to people that they cannot come in until someone else leaves
Border Patrol agent Kris Stricklin explaining to people that they cannot come in until someone else leaves

A Memorial Day celebration at Border Field State Park dedicated to deported veterans suffered from blocked public access by the Border Patrol because of maximum-occupancy restrictions.

The event was organized by the Border Angels group in cooperation with the regular Sunday bilingual religious ceremony that takes place in the Friendship Park area — a kind of no-man's land between the old fence on the Mexico side of the border and the new fence (built in 2009) running parallel about 60 feet away.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of the agents on the scene, Kris Stricklin, said the Border Patrol was not notified in advance about the Memorial Day service and so were unable to have enough staff on hand to allow more than 25 visitors at a time. Stricklin said when they have enough staff to allow more visitors, "we do."

In addition to the usual honoring of veterans on Memorial Day, the Friendship Park service focused on Mexican-born vets, living and dead, who were deported despite their honorable discharges from the U.S. military.

Reverend John Fanestil, who was conducting the religious ceremony on the American side along with Pastor Guillermo Navarrette on the Mexican side, said during the service, "On this day, we remember the soldiers, honorably discharged, who were deported to Mexico."

Fanestil and Guillermo spoke into wireless microphones that transmitted to a sound system on the Mexican side of the fence; sound equipment is reputedly not allowed on the U.S. side.

Hector Barajas, attending in uniform, said he started serving with the Army's 87th Airborne Division in 1995 and was honorably discharged in 2001. Barajas said he was at the service not only "to commemorate all the people who died in combat" but also to support "all the vets who are being ignored despite having problems with drugs, PTSD, and emotional or psychological problems." Barajas said he was deported in 2004 after a prison term for discharging a firearm in a vehicle.

Border Angel volunteers wore T-shirts that read, "Who Would Jesus Deport?" while various speakers in Spanish and English testified about their experiences, some breaking into tears. An American flag, attached to the border fence on the Mexican side, was saluted by the deported vets while taps was played.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jacobs Music Center Grand Opening

The concert did what it was designed to do
Next Article

More on San Diego inventions – Spike Bite and disappearing ink

The scandal of county supervisors at the library
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader