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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Time now for Story Corps' Military Voices Initiative, recording and sharing the stories of service members and their families. Laura Meza and Livy Lazaro have a lot in common. They are both children of immigrants. They joined the U.S. Army soon after high school, and both served in the Iraq War. But Livy Lazaro is a U.S. citizen, while Laura Meza only had a green card. And that one difference led Meza to be deported. Lazaro led an effort to help Meza get temporary legal status. And two years ago, she returned to the United States.
LAURA MEZA: I remember "Rambo" movies and "G.I. Jane"...
LIVY LIZARO: (Laughter).
MEZA: ...And all the, like, special forces and all that. And I just went (ph), those guys are so cool.
LIZARO: Yeah.
MEZA: I want to be like that.
LIZARO: Yeah.
MEZA: So I definitely wanted to do something kind of heroic and represent the country and go and serve.
LIZARO: Yeah. I signed up one year before I ever graduated, and I left at 17. I'm really proud of my service, but Iraq is heavy. It was - ooh - something else.
MEZA: Yeah.
LIZARO: When you came home from war, what was life like?
MEZA: I was trying to deal with the trauma. I didn't know how to stomach that, and I started drinking heavily. You're just trying to forget about everything. And when I'd get home in the morning, you know, lay down, go to sleep, I remember my daughter sometimes coming. Mom, can you take me to the park? (Crying) And I didn't want to get up. And I love my daughter so much, but I couldn't get up.
LIZARO: Did you know it was possible for you to get deported?
MEZA: No. I didn't even think about that. I thought, if you go to combat, you become an automatic citizen. But I'd been in and out of jail, and the deporting charges was possession of marijuana and attempted robbery. And they flew me out...
LIZARO: Oh, my goodness.
MEZA: ...With shackles on the arms, on the hands...
LIZARO: Yeah.
MEZA: ...On the feet, and chains.
LIZARO: How did you feel when you first got to Costa Rica?
MEZA: Like I had fallen in through a black hole and I was in no man's land. I felt worthless. I'm like, you're some trash - go.
LIZARO: Were you lonely?
MEZA: Of course. I mean, without the family, you feel lost. I kind of felt like, God, oh, I need a miracle. This is what I'm going to be praying for.
LIZARO: I remember hearing of your story, and it said we have a woman, Army combat veteran, and she's deported. That could have been me. I mean, our journey is the same - our military service, our combat experience, losing ourselves afterwards because of those things. I have the mugshots, the record. I have all of it but the deportation. It just became my mission to bring you back. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm loud, and I'm a leader. I said, no. I cannot leave my sister out there.
MEZA: And I thank you so much for doing that for me, Livy.
LIZARO: We leave no one behind, remember?
MEZA: Yes.
LIZARO: And wanting to help you started healing me. It's taught me how to have some grace with myself. How did you feel when you first came back to the U.S.?
MEZA: I was walking on clouds. As soon as I got out of the plane, oh, God, I hugged everybody - my mom, my dad, my daughter Jasmine and my beautiful grandbaby that's the most beautiful little girl in the world. And so I want to stay here, definitely. (Crying) the biggest fear I have is leaving my family again, especially my granddaughter. And I have faith and pray and hope that, you know, God's going to pull me through here and I'm staying.
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SIMON: That's Laura Meza and Livy Lazaro in Bethesda, Maryland. Their interview is archived at the U.S. Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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