In Trump’s America, not even decorated U.S. veterans are safe from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its draconian, illegal immigration crackdown.

At least, that’s what people believe reporter Spencer Woodman suggested with this fantastically misrepresentative viral tweet:

“ICE has arrested a U.S. army veteran who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and has two U.S. citizen children,” he wrote. “His name is Miguel Perez Jr. and he has lived in the U.S. since he was 8 years old.”

As of this writing, Woodman's 159-character note has been shared by more than 43,000 people.

Woodman, who reports for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, added in a separate note that has been shared by approximately 6,000 users, “Perez is now hunger striking in a Wisconsin detention facility: ‘If it comes down to me being deported, I would rather leave this world in the country I gave my heart for.’”

It’s heartbreaking. It’s tragic. It’s outrageous. It’s also not the whole story.

Missing from these viral tweets are mentions of Perez’s felony drug conviction, or the fact that this story begins during the Obama administration.

Woodman’s first tweet included a link to a Chicago Tribune story, which begins with these lines, “A U.S. Army veteran and green card holder with a felony drug conviction began a hunger strike Wednesday to protest his likely deportation, after a federal court denied his appeal to remain in the U.S., where he has lived since age 8.”

Interesting that Woodman’s viral tweets manage to capture everything in the Tribune’s opening paragraph except for the drug conviction part.

The Tribune has the details [emphases added]:

On Nov. 26, 2008 … Perez handed a laptop case containing cocaine to an undercover officer. Perez pleaded guilty to the drug charge and served half of a 15-year prison sentence. While Perez was convicted of delivering less than 100 grams of cocaine, prosecutors have said he was arrested for delivering much more and received a reduced sentence after a plea deal. Prosecutors also pointed out that Perez was given a general discharge from the military after a drug infraction.
Perez said he discovered the citizenship oversight when he was summoned to immigration court shortly before his September 2016 release from Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg. Instead of heading home to Chicago from prison, Perez was placed in the custody of [ICE] and transferred to a Wisconsin detention center for immigrants awaiting deportation.

To be clear, ICE hasn’t “arrested" Perez, contra Woodman's tweet. The veteran, who claims he suffers from substance abuse issues and post-traumatic stress disorder following his tours overseas, was transferred directly from prison to an ICE facility two years prior to the current administration.

Yet, whether Woodman intended it or not, the current commander in chief is being blamed for Perez’s current state of affair:

Perez’s story is a sad one. Too many veterans struggle with drug abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.

It seems particularly disgraceful, however, for politicos and pundits to seize on Perez's story as a means to attack the current president, who, by the way, wasn't even in office when ICE took custody of the veteran pending his deportation.

(h/t Alex Griswold)