April 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. military veteran who was deported to Mexico in 2004 became a U.S. citizen on Friday during a ceremony in San Diego.
Hector Barajas, 41, became a proponent of veterans who had been deported from the United States and in 2013 founded the Deported Veterans Support House, an organization that helps deported veterans gain their footing in Mexico. His work caught the attention of California Gov. Jerry Brown, who pardoned him last year for the crime that got him deported -- shooting at a car -- for which he had already served three years in prison.