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In my May 21 column, I described the journey to repatriation that deported veteran Fabian Rebolledo began 3 years ago, and concluded with his impending court hearing to have his felony conviction re-sentenced to a misdemeanor under California’s Proposition 47.
On June 10 Rebolledo successfully had his felony conviction re-sentenced as a misdemeanor, thereby giving him the right to petition the Department of Homeland Security for repatriation to the United States.
That outcome has pointed Rebolledo down a new road toward reuniting with family members and receiving proper care for his medical conditions.
But Rebolledo first steps down this road of healing were taken in Kosovo, Yugoslavia.
In March 1999, President Bill Clinton ordered elements of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division deployed under Operation Allied Force—a NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. The Kosovo conflict is well known for ethnic cleansing, summary executions, sniper attacks on civilians, inhumane treatment of prisoners and the use of personal landmines in urban areas.
Rebolledo was one of the peacekeepers assigned to quell the violence in this traumatized region. He was assigned the grisly task of retrieving the bodies of Kosovan villagers massacred by Serbian forces. Rebolledo recounted these stories for me at his home in Tijuana, Mexico.
After his deportation in 2012, Rebolledo found himself back in Mexico speaking Americanized Spanish without identification, housing, or financial means to support himself. He would need every ounce of training that he learned in the Army to survive.
During the initial months he slept in shelters and on the streets until finding permanent housing with another deported veteran living in Tijuana named Hector Barajas. He and Barajas created a communications and advocacy center for deported veterans worldwide out of Barajas’ bedroom and dubbed it the “Bunker.”
The Bunker now supports up to eight homeless veterans, providing counseling, legal support, food and shelter to not only deported veterans but also DREAMer Moms—deported women who were forced to leave their children behind in the United States. Similar Bunkers now exist in Tijuana, Kingston, Jamaica and Port Au Prince, Haiti.
Rebolledo, who has a history of self-medication also co-founded the Deported Veterans Mural project which is a therapeutic art project that enables deported veterans to paint their own stories upon the border that divides them and their families.
When asked why he advocated for fellow deported veterans and not just himself, Rebolledo replied, “that it helps in my process of personal healing and gets me ready for my journey to Kosovo.”
It isn’t America where Rebolledo is seeking to exorcise the horrors he endured over the past 16 years, but it’s in the villages where the faces of dead Kosovans began to dominate his dreams and cause so much pain. He has reached out—through intermediaries—to Serbian veterans, who wish to meet him in those villages to help themselves and Rebolledo truly heal from their wounds of war.
Returning home
As Rebolledo discussed his potential return to the United States, he expressed a great desire to keep a promise to his son Derrick, whom he has not seen in over a year. He wishes to pick his son up from high school wearing his old military uniform and introduce him to the new family he has started since being deported.
During his time in Mexico, Rebolledo met Patty Ramos and found in her a partner with whom he could find a healing path forward. But once back, Rebolledo will be faced with the daunting task of reactivating his medical care with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many deported veterans lose all access to VA medical care, Social Security and compensation after their deportation. Rebolledo is preparing himself to battle the notorious VA backlog and the long wait for access to care.
Once he has his physical health back, Rebolledo plans to travel to Europe and re-explore those villages in Kosovo with a fresh understanding, awareness and desire to help heal those who share part of the painful burden of witnessing some of the saddest episodes of humanity during the 20th century.
Rebolledo hopes his journey will finally enable him to have a peaceful night’s sleep—sleep that’s done under a roof, in a house, on a street, and in a city located in the country he served.
Welcome home Fabian.