Green card soldiers

Four things to know about immigrants in the military

Photo by US Army Korea – IMCOM/Flickr (Creative Commons)

U.S. military members at naturalization ceremony held at an Army base in South Korea, December 2008

A post yesterday told the story of the late Marine Corps Sgt. Rafael Peralta, whose name has come up in recent weeks after one Southern California legislator suggested a U.S. Navy ship be named for him.

Peralta, a Marine who died in Fallujah, Iraq in November 2004, was a Mexican-born immigrant who enlisted upon receiving his green card. And there are many others like him serving today. As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here are a few things to know about the immigrants who serve in the U.S. military, who might serve in the future, and military service members of color in general.

1) Non-citizens in the military: Often referred to as “green card soldiers,” non-citizens join the military at a rate of about 8,000 per year, according to a recent Department of Defense video. Last year, the Associated Press reported there were close to 17,000 non-citizens on active duty.

Part of the draw for non-citizen recruits is a faster track to citizenship than for civilians, the product of policy changes after September 11, 2001 intended to boost military ranks. A 2002 presidential order allows non-citizens serving in the military to apply for expedited citizenship. A record number of U.S. military members were naturalized last year, the most since 1955.

2) Who can join: While non-citizens can join the military, they must be legal permanent residents. Undocumented immigrants are barred by law from enlisting, the only potential emergency exception being a Secretary of Defense decision that “such enlistment is vital to the national interest,” according to the U.S. Code. A passage from the code establishes the following rules:

(b) Citizenship or Residency. – (1) A person may be enlisted in any armed force only if the person is one of the following:
(A) A national of the United States, as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)).
(B) An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)).
(C) A person described in section 341 of one of the following compacts:
(i) The Compact of Free Association between the Federated States of Micronesia and the United States (section 201(a) of Public Law 108-188 (117 Stat. 2784; 48 U.S.C. 1921 note)).
(ii) The Compact of Free Association between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the United States (section 201(b) of Public Law 108-188 (117 Stat. 2823; 48 U.S.C. 1921 note)).
(iii) The Compact of Free Association between Palau and the United States (section 201 of Public Law 99-658 (100 Stat. 3678; 48 U.S.C. 1931 note)).
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned may authorize the enlistment of a person not described in paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that such enlistment is vital to the national interest.

3) What could change: The federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, proposed legislation that Senate Democrats have promised to reintroduce, would allow young undocumented immigrants to enlist in exchange for conditional legal status. The bill, a version of which cleared the House last December but was struck down in the Senate, would also allow young people who arrived in this country before age 16 to obtain conditional legal status if they go to college.

If the bill were to become law, Dream Act beneficiaries who choose the military route would have to serve at least two years and be honorably discharged in order to be eligible for permanent legal resident status.

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FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Green card soldiers, Military Families Act, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, U.S. military naturalizations

April 14, 2011 | 10:06 AM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Bogus ‘army unit’ a reminder of how far immigrants are willing go for citizenship

Photo by U.S. Army Korea-IMCOM/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A military naturalization ceremony held at a U.S. Army base in South Korea, December 2008

The story of David Deng, a Chinese immigrant from El Monte accused of charging fellow Chinese immigrants upwards of $400 to join a bogus “special forces” military unit that could lead them to U.S. citizenship – replete with bogus uniforms – might come off on one hand as this week’s immigration news of the weird.

On the other hand, it’s a relevant reminder of how far many immigrants to the United States are willing to go in order to become citizens.

The ranks of non-citizen soldiers in the U.S. military, often referred to as “green card soldiers,” have swelled in recent years. In order to attract more military conscripts, the federal government made a series of policy changes in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks that would make joining the military more attractive to legal-resident immigrants. This included a 2002 presidential order allowing non-citizens serving in the military to apply for expedited citizenship.

A few months ago, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that a record number of U.S. military personnel became citizens in fiscal year 2010, which ended last Sept. 30. The military personnel naturalized – 11,146 soldiers altogether – represented the largest number of foreign-born U.S. soldiers naturalized since 1955. From the press release:

Since September 2001, USCIS has naturalized nearly 65,000 service men and women, including those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In exchange, green card soldiers are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, as are citizens who join the military. Non-citizen soldiers were among the first military casualties in Iraq, among them Marine Lance Corporal José Gutierrez of Lomita, an immigrant from Guatemala who died March 31, 2003. Gutierrez arrived in the United States without papers. His remarkable story from Guatemala City orphan to Marine was chronicled in a 2006 documentary.

Becoming a soldier as a means to legalization for undocumented immigrants, right now barred from enlisting, has also long been floated as a component to the Dream Act, proposed federal legislation that failed to clear the Senate in December. The legislation would have allowed conditional legal status for undocumented young people who arrived here under age 16, provided they attended college or enlisted in the military.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Bogus army unit, David Deng, Dream Act, Green card soldiers, Minority recruiting, U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization Services, U.S. military

November 11, 2010 | 6:32 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

A Marine of extraordinary tenacity

In a post earlier today about the record number of military naturalizations this past year, I briefly mentioned the story of the late Marine Lance Corporal José Gutierrez of Lomita, one of the first members of the U.S. military to die in the Iraq war on March 21, 2003.

It’s been a few years since the release of this documentary about his life and death, The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez. But it’s worth revisiting not only because it gets into the citizenship incentive for so-called “green card soldiers” to enlist, but because it recounts the life of an extraordinarily tenacious young man.

Orphaned in his native Guatemala by the age of nine, Gutierrez struggled to survive and eventually made his way north, with big dreams of becoming an architect. From a May 2003 story in the Los Angeles Times:

Jose eventually made the 2,000-mile trek from Guatemala to Los Angeles, promising the sister he left behind that he would become an architect and design great buildings.

So, on a spring morning six years ago, the baby-faced kid with big ears sat at a shelter for the homeless in Hollywood and, through his rotten teeth, told a daring lie.

Social worker Rafael Angulo asked Jose how old he was. Jose said 16.

He had plenty of reason to hide the truth. Adults who cross the border illegally are subject to deportation. A juvenile with no family could probably stay.

The social worker studied the smooth young face and wanted to believe the boy. Two weeks later, Jose was placed in his first foster home.

The boy, it turned out, was 22.

The lie changed everything. It got him a green card, and the green card got him into the Marines, and the Marines took him to the Iraqi port of Umm al Qasr, where he was killed the afternoon of March 21, one of the first U.S. servicemen to die in the war.

The toughness and tenacity that Gutierrez developed in his early years made him, in the end, an ideal Marine. He died by “friendly fire,” one of the first two casualties of the war.

To all those who have served and sacrificed in pursuit of a dream or an ideal, respect.

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Green card soldiers, Jose Gutierrez, U.S. Marines

November 11, 2010 | 10:37 AM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Immigrant soldiers: Record number naturalized in past year, most since 1955

Photo by U.S. Army Korea-IMCOM/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A military naturalization ceremony held at a U.S. Army base in South Korea, December 2008

In time for Veterans Day, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced yesterday that a record number of U.S. military personnel became citizens in fiscal year 2010, which ended Sept. 30. It is the largest number of foreign-born soldiers naturalized in 55 years. From the press release:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that in fiscal year 2010 it granted citizenship to 11,146 members of the U.S. armed forces at ceremonies in the United States and 22 countries abroad. This figure represents the highest number of service members naturalized in any year since 1955.

This number is a 6 percent increase from the 10,505 naturalizations in fiscal year 2009 and a significant increase from the 7,865 naturalizations in fiscal year 2008. Since September 2001, USCIS has naturalized nearly 65,000 service men and women, including those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Legal-resident soldiers, often referred to as “green card soldiers,” have grown in number in recent years, especially after a series of policy changes after September 11, 2001 intended to boost military ranks by making the military more attractive to immigrants. This included a 2002 presidential order allowing non-citizens serving in the military to apply for expedited citizenship.

Green card soldiers were among the first military casualties in Iraq, among them Marine Lance Corporal José Gutierrez of Lomita, an immigrant from Guatemala who died March 31, 2003. His remarkable story from Guatemala City orphan to Marine was chronicled in a 2006 documentary.

According to a recent Associated Press story, there were 16,966 non-citizens on active duty as of last May. The story profiled a Jamaican-born veteran in deportation proceedings; in spite of the ability to obtain expedited citizenship, those who have not yet naturalized are subject to deportation if they get into trouble with the law, not a problem for veterans who are U.S. citizens.