Gov. Pritzker Grants Clemency to U.S. Veteran Deported to Mexico

Governor JB Pritzker has granted clemency to Miguel Perez, a U.S. Army veteran who immigrated to Illinois as a child. Perez, who served 7.5 years for a non-violent offense, was deported to Mexico in 2018.

Perez joined the U.S. Army in 2002 and served two tours as a Special Forces Mechanic in Afghanistan, where he was injured in an explosion and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He returned from service with PTSD, which still requires medical treatment to this day. Perez was a legal resident whose service in the armed forces was supposed to provide him an expedited path to citizenship under a 2002 Executive Order by President George W. Bush, but due to oversight, he was not afforded that opportunity.
 
In 2008, Perez was convicted of a non-violent offense, served 7.5 years and was released from Hill Correctional Center in September 2016. In late 2016, he petitioned the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, arguing that a pardon might prevent deportation. The PRB recommended clemency in April 2017, but then-Gov. Rauner denied the petition in February 2018. Perez was deported in March 2018 without prior contact with his family, left at the Mexican border nearly penniless without clothing or shelter.
 
"Miguel Perez should not have been deported. The bigoted immigration policy of President Trump and failed leadership of former Governor Rauner have caused unfortunate circumstances for a U.S. veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan," said Governor JB Pritzker. "In evaluating this request for clemency, I recognize this pardon is not a perfect solution, but it is the most just action to take to allow a U.S. veteran the opportunity to be treated fairly by the country he served."
 
Perez has active VA benefits that he can't access in Mexico. His family, including two children and parents, live in Illinois and are U.S. citizens.