‘Best Christmas present ever’: Deported U.S. veteran returns home after nearly 20 years

On Sunday, Raúl Orlando Calix — a former U.S. Marine deported nearly 20 years ago — gathered with his family at his Rosarito home for an already-planned early Christmas reunion. He asked his daughters, who made the trip from Los Angeles, to share what their best Christmas had been.

When it was his turn, the surprising answer brought tears of joy to everyone: “This one, because I will be together with all of you,” he said, according to his wife Maria, who helped him keep the secret for two weeks.

Calix, 66, a native of Honduras, returned to the U.S. Tuesday on a one-year humanitarian parole that will allow him to take care of his sister, who has cancer.

Around 10 a.m. he presented himself at the San Ysidro pedestrian border crossing joined by his wife, daughter Irene, and U.S. Army veteran Héctor Barajas, who has become a leader of deported veterans and founded a support house in Tijuana.

On the other side of the border, his other daughters and grandchildren were already waiting for him, waving small U.S. flags and holding signs with messages, including: “Our hero comes home today. We call him dad.”

“Best Christmas present ever. Thank you very much,” said his daughter Sofia after hugging him on U.S. soil.

Calix, who served as a reservist from 1980 to 1987, said he will continue to pursue a legal process to stay in the country.

He could also ask for a renewal of his humanitarian parole, he said. Calix said he was deported in 2005 after he was found guilty of insurance fraud and served his jail sentence.

At first he returned to his native Honduras, but later, moved to Rosarito to be closer to the border so his family could visit him.

María Calix said she was happy to have her husband back after years of traveling back and forth. “This is very exciting. Especially for him to see the grandkids grow,” she said.

The couple has four daughters and 12 grandchildren. “It was tough for them as well as for him,” she said.

Calix said he hopes other deported veterans will have the same opportunity to return to their families. “There are many who still need to return, and I hope we continue to support them,” he said.

Calix said the situation is bittersweet, and that he hopes his sister can recover from cancer.

Since July 2021, 93 veterans have been allowed to return to the U.S. under the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“We are profoundly grateful for the service and sacrifice of military service members, veterans, and their families,” a DHS spokesperson said.

Barajas, also a deported veteran who returned in 2018 and was granted U.S. citizenship, estimated that about half of the returned veterans have been able to legalize their status.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the time that the Biden administration was “committed to bringing back military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members who were unjustly removed and ensuring they receive the benefits to which they may be entitled.”

On the DHS’ ImmVets website, there are resources to assist military members, veterans or family members, as well as information on whether they may qualify for citizenship through naturalization or humanitarian parole, among other options.

Barajas said he is glad that “little by little” more deported veterans are returning to the country. “We still have hundreds of people who have not returned,” he said. “Every case is different, some have already applied but have been denied, but we continue to fight to bring them all back.”