Diego When his country called, Diego was not afraid to answer. Born in Texas, he served in the U.S. Army for four years, including as a combat medic in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Yet today, back in Texas, he is frequently detained and threatened with removal from the United States. “[If ] your last name is Spanish, they’re always gonna question if you were born here.” 132 Diego was born in Brownsville and has family on both sides of the border. As an American citizen, crossing back and forth should be routine, but it hasn’t been recently. Instead, Diego has often been pulled aside by U.S. border officials, subjected to additional scrutiny, and told he will be placed in removal proceedings. In one case, he was arrested, forcibly separated from his two young daughters, detained for 15 hours, and told to confess that he was not a U.S. citizen. Diego suspects this is because of his Hispanic last name: “[If] your last name is Spanish, they’re always gonna question if you were born here.” Perhaps for the same reason, his petitions for green cards for his wife and mother have been inexplicably delayed. Seated in his tidy South Texas home, where his old dress uniform is displayed behind glass, he notes the irony. “The Army summarizes everything that’s good in America: all the discipline, all the hard work, all the respect,” he says. “I really, really felt that I was doing something for the country that I loved—I was really proud.” He shakes his head and adds, “Now you’re telling me I’m gonna have to go to a judge to decide whether I’m a U.S. citizen or not?” UNMAKING AMERICANS