Veteran Threatened with Deportation Seeks Pardon for Crime

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Prisoner Review Board is being asked to intervene on behalf of an Army veteran with a green card who faces deportation because of a 2008 drug conviction.

Advocates for Miguel Perez Jr. want the board to recommend that Gov. Bruce Rauner issue a pardon. They hope the Department of Homeland Security will then grant the 38-year-old Perez citizenship retroactively from when he joined the military in 2001.

Perez served two tours in Afghanistan. He's being held in a Wisconsin detention center where he awaits deportation to Mexico.

Perez pleaded guilty to a drug charge for handing a laptop case containing cocaine to an undercover officer. He served half of a 15-year prison sentence.

Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Peter Goutos said Thursday that his office opposes clemency for Perez.