Madeline Ackley
Borderlands Reporter, PhoenixLatest from Madeline Ackley
Native American veterans still struggling to get the health care they were promised
KYKOTSMOVI – Access to VA health care has been a challenge for Native Americans for decades, and they suffer some of the worst health outcomes. Now, advocates are hoping a new law could expand health care for Native American veterans.
‘I carried my addiction into civilian life’
TIJUANA, Baja California, Mexico – Vietnam Veteran Richard Avila returned from Asia addicted to drugs and was discharged from the Marines after being arrested for drug possession. After many run-ins with the law, he was deported in 1996, but returned multiple times and eventually served three years in federal prison before being deported a final time.
A hope that all mothers and children are reunited
TIJUANA, Baja California, Mexico – Yolanda Varona, who helps run The Bunker in Tijuana, was deported to Mexico in January 2010 without the chance to say goodbye to her children. Varona founded a support group for deported mothers, like herself, who have been separated from their children in the U.S.
Loosely knit organizations along U.S.-Mexico border support deported vets
TIJUANA, Baja California, Mexico – U.S. veterans deported to Mexico find resources with the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana, run by Hector Barajas-Varela, who joined the U.S. Army at age 17.
‘Repugnant to the American dream’: Federal judges block controversial immigration policy
PHOENIX – Changes to federal public charge policy set to take effect on Oct. 15, have been blocked by a judge in New York. Arizona advocates are working to spread the word to immigrant families.
Potential deportation of medically vulnerable migrants halted, but questions remain
PHOENIX – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will again process deferred action requests for humanitarian reasons, reversing the agency’s decision to kill the program.
