Thread: Swift Road for U.S. Citizen Soldiers Already Fighting in Ira

www.nytimes.com

August 9, 2005
Swift Road for U.S. Citizen Soldiers Already Fighting in Iraq
By EDWARD WONG
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq - For Specialist James Garrovillas, enlisting in the Army meant more than just joining the military.

It meant joining the United States.

In a 50-minute ceremony in late July, Specialist Garrovillas and 142 other service members took the oath of citizenship inside one of Saddam Hussein's palaces here, now part of the headquarters of the American command in western Baghdad. Between white marble walls, a brass band struck up "God Bless America."

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, American naturalization ceremonies had taken place on foreign soil only twice - during the Korean War and in the 1990's, with Filipino veterans of World War II. But since last year, teams of immigration officers have been jetting to military bases around the world to do interviews and carry out naturalization ceremonies.

The event here was the biggest of the Iraq war so far. The troops came from 46 countries - many from Mexico, but also some from Jamaica, Nigeria, Turkey and Vietnam. Until now, all had been risking their lives fighting for a nation that had not counted them among its citizens.

"I think it's awesome," Specialist Garrovillas, 28, of San Diego, said with a wide grin as he held a certificate in one hand and a tightly folded American flag in the other. "I've waited for years to get it. It's nice having it in a palace in Iraq. It beats having it in the United States."

Specialist Garrovillas is among 20,000 military service members who have become American citizens since July 2002, many of whom applied under a fast-track process approved by President Bush in 2003 and enacted in October 2004. Under the new rules, people in the military can become citizens without paying the customary $320 application fee or having to be in the United States for an interview with immigration officials and naturalization proceedings.

The president also made thousands of service members immediately eligible for citizenship by not requiring them to meet a minimum residency threshold, as civilians applying to be citizens must do, although they must still be legal residents of the United States.

The new citizenship laws have offered a powerful tool to recruiters at a time when the military is struggling to meet its monthly enlistment quotas. The armed forces now have at least 27,000 members who do not have United States citizenship.

Some military outfits around the world have long relied on the same lure. The French Foreign Legion, for instance, grants French citizenship to its members, and consequently attracts many Eastern Europeans. Some joke that the privilege of citizenship comes more easily now to American troops than sex or alcohol, both banned in a war zone.

"Before they were citizens, they were willing to fight for it, to risk everything for it," Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, the commander of combat operations in Iraq, said as he presided over the ceremony here. "They know the risks that face America. They know the risks that face the world."

Of the changes pushed through by Mr. Bush, the one that gives military service members the biggest advantage over civilians in applying for citizenship is the waiving of any residency requirement. But most military applicants do not need that waiver, because they have lived in the United States or served in the armed forces long enough anyway, said Kendra Shyne, an immigration officer based in Frankfurt, who flew to Iraq with two colleagues to conduct citizenship interviews in the three days before the naturalization ceremony on July 25.

Specialist Garrovillas, for example, was born in the Philippines but lived in the United States for 23 years, growing up in Southern California. He joined the Army three years ago and decided to apply for citizenship before his Iraq deployment to get higher security clearances and other job-related benefits, he said.

"Having the passport is also nice," said Specialist Garrovillas, of the 44th Corps Support Battalion. "I'm the fourth person in my family to get it. My older brother was a marine, and he became a citizen back in '92."

Another new citizen, Cpl. Mario Rivera, 23, originally from Honduras, said, "I applied when they told me it was going to be free."

Asked what benefits he believed came with citizenship, the corporal replied, "Not a lot."

"You can apply for federal jobs," he said. "That's about it."

Standing next to him, Specialist Kerryann Simpson, 21, from Jamaica, had a less blasé take.

"It was wonderful," she said of the ceremony. "It's an experience meeting people from different countries."

"I wanted to apply for citizenship for a better job," she added.

Military life was all Specialist Simpson knew of the adult world. She said she joined the Army right after finishing high school in Windsor, Conn. She had grown up in Jamaica and moved to the United States seven years ago.

Those applying for the citizenship ceremony in Iraq first filled out applications that took about six to eight weeks to process, including background checks. Then Ms. Shyne and two other women from the Citizenship and Immigration Services, once known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, flew from Europe to conduct brief interviews here. The applicants came to Camp Victory from military bases scattered across Iraq; no one was rejected for citizenship.

In the course of doing the interviews, the immigration officials discovered that seven applicants already were citizens - they were under 18 when their parents had become citizens, and so they had automatically been granted citizenship. But the seven were still included in the ceremony, for the sake of pomp.

"It was pretty sad because my whole family was U.S. citizens, and I'm the only one who wasn't a U.S. citizen," said Specialist Jobert Floresca, 24, who was born in the Philippines. "I didn't find out until today that I'm a U.S. citizen."

Damien Cave contributed reporting from New York for this article.

"I think it's awesome," Specialist Garrovillas, 28, of San Diego, said with a wide grin as he held a certificate in one hand and a tightly folded American flag in the other. "I've waited for years to get it. It's nice having it in a palace in Iraq. It beats having it in the United States."

Specialist Garrovillas is among 20,000 military service members who have become American citizens since July 2002, many of whom applied under a fast-track process approved by President Bush in 2003 and enacted in October 2004. Under the new rules, people in the military can become citizens without paying the customary $320 application fee or having to be in the United States for an interview with immigration officials and naturalization proceedings.

20,000 since 2002--Wow! That's seems like alot, doesn't it? That would mean they weren't citizens when they joined. Interesting.

The military will take non-US citizens. As far as I know, they do not take illegals. However any males of draft age have to register for the selective service and that includes illegal aliens and refugees.

The non-US citizens have to meet all the requirements (education, physical, aptitude testing, background check, etc.) that a US citizen would. I’ve been retired for about 10 years now so this is kind of fuzzy but I believe in the Air Force they could only serve one enlistment (four years), couldn’t hold a security clearance and couldn’t be promoted past E-4. Of course if they obtained their citizenship then it opened up everything for them.

These people did things the right way. They didn’t come here to make a buck. I’ll pretty much guarantee you that the illegal construction workers are probably making more under the table money than most E-1’s and E-2’s. The illegals don’t want to be citizens. The military guys wanted to be citizens so bad that they joined the military, took the oath to defend the Constitution and went off to war to prove it!

JB2012. That is good to know. Is there anything that you are aware of that prevents the taking of an illegal alien? A rule or provision? Anything you know or can find on this would be very helpful. From an earlier post about the selective service, it appeared they could be drafted if they were here in the US.

Any clarification we find on this would be good to post!!

Thanks JB!

Judy,

This is the whole policy if you've got the time (50 pages)

http://www.sss.gov/PDFs/MSSA-2003.pdf

Illegals do have to register.

NON-CITIZENS
Some non-citizens are required to register. Others are not. Noncitizens who are not required to register with Selective Service include men who are in the U.S. on student or visitor visas, and men who are part of a diplomatic or trade mission and their families. Almost all other male noncitizens are required to register, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and refugees. The general rule is that if a male noncitizen takes up residency in the U.S. before his 26th birthday, he must register with Selective Service. For a more detailed list of which non-citizens must register, see Who Must Register - Chart .

If they don't register they could face a fine up to $250,000 and/or up to 5 years in jail. Additionally, they can't participate in:

STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
Men, born after December 31, 1959, who aren't registered with Selective Service won't qualify for Federal student loans or grant programs. This includes Pell Grants, College Work Study, Guaranteed Student/Plus Loans, and National Direct Student Loans.

CITIZENSHIP
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) makes registration with Selective Service a condition for U.S. citizenship if the man first arrived in the U.S. before his 26th birthday.

FEDERAL JOB TRAINING
The Workforce Investment Act (formerly called the Job Training Partnership Act - JTPA) offers programs that can train young men for jobs in auto mechanics and other skills. This program is only open to those men who register with Selective Service. Only men born after December 31, 1959, are required to show proof of registration.

FEDERAL JOBS
A man must be registered to be eligible for jobs in the Executive Branch of the Federal government and the U.S. Postal Service. Proof of registration is required only for men born after December 31, 1959.

As far as if there is anythng that I'm aware of that would prevent the drafting of an illegal alien, I would assume anything that would disqualify a citizen would apply to them also.

Maybe if there are any military recruiters out there, they can answer the question better.

Thanks JohnB. Very helpful. I'm pretty sure there are what were formerly illegal aliens recruited and signed up for military service. We've seen posts about them on the basis that they fight for the country so why shouldn't they be allowed to stay here.

See this is where I'm headed with this issue. Military personnel are not well-paid given the risk and danger of the service. To me, our military especially the lower ranks are severely underpaid. Why is that? Why with the voluntary army hasn't that pay and benefits increased based upon supply and demand like any other job would?

Aha!! Now we discover "non-citizens" in the military a fact that I didn't know until just a few weeks ago from the posts, threads, articles and a document about selective service.

How better to keep military wages deflated, just like the American Job Market...than to allow non-citizens to enter the "market".

Now I realize that mot military personnel fight for their country and obviously not for the money. Many of the reservists did join for the triple function of serving their country, seeing the world, and earning a better income, supplemental income, educational opportunities, etc.

Whatever the motive of our Military which I believe fighting for their country is number 1 with income and opportunities number 1 and 3--these people are severely underpaid for a) their knowledge b) their unique skills c) the hardship of the work and d) the risk of the work.

Is it fair to say that accepting non-citizens into the military has deflated wages and salaries for Military Personnel?

I lay the question out there for those in the Military to answer. I don't know anything about it other than the salaries I hear about are way too low for the job and many military families have not enough to live on, even the Reservists, when they have to give up their job and go to Military for significantly less money.

If you want the Best there is in your Military, you have to get the wages and salaries up while still recruiting loyal Americans with allegiance ONLY to the United States with hearts full of love of country. Not an easy task when wages and salaries are too low.

The solution seems to me to recruiting problems is not spending milllions of dollars on Madison Avenue advertising programs. The solution is to raise the salaries commensurate with the job--which right now is going to Iraq and risking your life--and spending whatever is necessary to keep our troops safe. I think time would be better spent ensuring their safety than devising at tremendous cost ways to ID American Citizens; handing out money to Mexico; spending billions a year on illegal alien "catch and release" programs; and billions more feeding, housing, treating, and underwriting illegal aliens while they are here because they got in because we didn't guard our borders to keep them out. We should recruit troops to guard those borders so the only expense we have with respect to illegal aliens is the cost to guard those borders. THEN we could afford to do alot of things that desperately need to done including paying our Military properly for the service they provide to American Citizens and our friendly nations.

Non-citizens joining the military to become citizens. I can respect that alot more than I can the illegal alien lawbreakers who think that this country belongs to them and that we stole our land from them, a heck of alot more.

This Iraq fiasco has got to end. Our troops are dieing in vain over there. Untie the troops hands. Bomb the terrorists back into the stone-age, bring our troops home and put them on the borders. Stop wasting our tax dollars and the lives of our troops over there just so Iran can supersize itself. It's not worth it.

Judy,

Just so we're all clear on this. The military does not take illegal aliens as volunteers. The non-citizens that they do take are resident aliens/green card holders or whatever the correct term is.

I can't speak for all the services but the number of non-citizens in the Air Force is fairly small. There is not much they can do without a security clearance so their choice of jobs is limited.

The fact that the military takes non-citizens has nothing to do with the military pay and has not deflated it. There was a pay increase every year that I was in. I don't think it has ever gone down but goes up each year. My personal feelings on military pay would take up too much time off the topic here but I'll agree that it should be a little higher.