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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas

Purple heart army veteran self-deports after 50 years from ‘country I fought for’

a seal on a army uniform
A US army purple heart medal. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A US army veteran who lived in the country for nearly 50 years – and earned a prestigious military citation for being wounded in combat – has left for South Korea after he says past struggles with drug addiction left him targeted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“I can’t believe this is happening in America,” Sae Joon Park, who held legal permanent residency, told National Public Radio in an interview before his departure Monday from Hawaii. “That blows me away – like [it is] a country that I fought for.”

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