Hector Barajas is becoming a U.S. citizen Friday. But the road has been long and winding.
Barajas was born in Mexico, and his parents brought him to the U.S. without documentation in 1984 when he was 7 years old. He enlisted in the Army and served in the 82nd Airborne Division, and was honorably discharged in 2001.
But in 2002, he pled guilty to shooting at an occupied vehicle. He served three years in prison, and was deported. Then last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned Barajas.
Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd spoke with Barajas as he was preparing to travel to the U.S. for his citizenship ceremony.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.