Deported U.S. Army veteran shares his citizenship struggle [Video]

TAMPA, Fla. — Speaking to us from an apartment in San Diego, David Bariu’s American story began more than two decades ago and nearly 10,000 miles away.

“I was born in Nairobi, Kenya,” he told us. “I came here to further my education.”

In 1998, Bariu came to America on a student visa. While here, he said an army recruiter persuaded him to enlist in the army in exchange for free education and U.S. citizenship.

“I was like, okay, that’s interesting,” Bariu recalled.

Bariu joined and served in the US Army and, eventually, the Air Force Reserves.

“For the love of serving the country and for the love of defending the Constitution,” he told investigative reporter Katie LaGrone.

But by 2007, Bariu said he was forced to leave the military altogether after the recruiter who recruited him was court marshaled and, ultimately, found guilty of unlawfully enlisting African national students, including Bariu.

Army discharge papers he provided us …