Today, we honor veterans like Army veteran Spc. Mauricio Hernandez-Mata. Hernandez-Mata completed over 100 missions, and despite having lived in the U.S. from the age of 7, was deported in 2010. For a decade, the federal government's failure to naturalize immigrants serving in the U.S. military has led to the deportation of untold numbers of veterans, all of whom were entitled to become citizens because of their service. After years of advocacy, Hernandez-Mata reunited with his family on U.S. soil (as illustrated above). Veterans should be treated with the same honor and respect regardless of their citizenship status, and should never be permanently banished from their home and their families. “If I had a second chance, I would gladly do it all again – fight for my country in any conflict,” Hernandez-Mata said. “I have always considered myself and I am an American.”