Few options for veterans who await deportation

Some say their military service merits special consideration

By Steve Liewer

STAFF WRITER
2:00 a.m. July 12, 2009

Fernando Cervantes held a bill that would spare the Army veteran from being deported. (Hiram Soto / U-T) - U-T Multimedia: To see an interview with a veteran awaiting deportation at a federal facility in El Centro, go to uniontrib.com/more/deport

As a 7-year-old, Fernando Cervantes emigrated legally from Mexico to Texas with his mother in 1961.

At 18, in the waning days of the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Army. Cervantes donned the khaki uniform, raised his right hand and swore to defend the Constitution.

“I thought it was my patriotic duty,â€