Held for 3 days, Denied right to attorney and any contact to notify family

"They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around," Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being "locked up for three days with no reason and no charges."

"I joined the service to help better myself," he said. "I did it because I love this (expletive) country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn't be."

"The way they're going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong, chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S.," he said. "No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people."

"I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn't just affect one person," Retes said. "It doesn't matter if your skin is brown. It doesn't matter if you're white. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran or you serve this country. They don't care. They're just there to fill a quota." ___ Associated Press writer Jamie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.



Edited: 07/16/2025 at 10:09 PM by 3rdworldlover