LOS ANGELES (CN) - In poverty-stricken South Central Los Angeles, a television commercial for the U.S. Marines grabbed the attention of 11-year-old Enrique Salas Garcia.
"I wanted that sense of honor and pride that comes from being a Marine. I wanted to be a badass Marine," Garcia said.
Seven years later, the week after he graduated from high school, Garcia's dream came true when his parents allowed him to enlist in the Marines. He served in the first Persian Gulf War, won many commendations and became a lance corporal.
But as recounted in the American Civil Liberties Union report, "Discharged, Then Discarded," Salas's fortunes dramatically changed when he left the Marines and came home.
In adjusting to civilian life, Salas grappled with a drug problem. He was sentenced to six months in jail for possession. Though he vowed not to repeat that mistake, in a cruel twist of fate, Salas's permanent resident card was stolen during a family trip to Tijuana in 2006.
Border officials voided his legal status when he reported the green card stolen. And unknown to Salas, his conviction meant that despite his four years of military service, he faced deportation and separation from his children and family.
Now Salas is exiled in Tijuana, where he repairs industrial tanks. It is a long way from that snapshot of a young boy who believed America could offer him a better future.
Salas is not the only one, said ACLU staff attorney Jennie Pasquarella, co-author of the report on deported veterans, released last week by the ACLU.
Pasquarella says the U.S. government is letting down Salas and thousands of others by not educating active service members and veterans about how to naturalize.
All immigrants who are in the country legally are entitled to U.S. citizenship because of their military service. But while some deported veterans believe they earned citizenship simply by signing up for military service, others were misinformed by recruiters or officers about their legal status, Pasquarella said.
"That's one of the greatest tragedies of this. People didn't realize that they weren't already a citizen. Had they known, they could have applied and naturalized when they were in the service," the attorney said.
"I think that the fact that a veteran who serves in our armed forces and goes to fight our wars could come home from service and then be deported is news to most Americans. I think most Americans would be shocked to learn that that is happening."
Not everyone is sympathetic.
Ira Mehlman, with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said it's not the government's responsibility to help veterans or soldiers on active duty apply for citizenship.
"Just because you have served in the military it doesn't exempt you from the consequences of your actions," Mehlman said in a telephone interview. "If you have served in the military and then subsequently committed some offense that makes you subject to deportation, that really is your responsibility."
The number of veterans who were deported is unclear.
Pasquarella said there could be thousands of deportees, dating back to the Vietnam war. In the past six months the ACLU has documented 85 cases, she said.