Not all heroes receive applause. Especially if they are immigrants living in the United States.
Last week President Obama spoke at a naturalization ceremony for armed service members. Immigrants from 16 different countries had earned U. S. citizenship while serving in the military. Their contributions were drowned out by the chorus of rage towards immigrants emanating from Arizona politics.
When asked for their comments about the ceremony, immigration critics instead voiced sound-bite complaints about immigrants – about how immigrants abuse U. S. services, like hospitals and schools, for free without contributing anything positive to our society.
Immigrants In The Military
According to Banished Veterans, more than 30,000 immigrants currently serve in the U. S. armed services. Most risk their lives for the sake of freedom and equality.
Another 12,000 serve in the Selected Reserves and 8,000 more in the Inactive National Guard and Individual Ready Reserves.
The biggest contingencies of immigrants serving in our military ranks are from the Philippines, Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Trindad and Tobago, Columbia, South Korea, and Peru.
According to the Cato Institute, a non-profit public policy research foundation, over 20% of the Congressional Medals of Honor recipients are immigrants. This means more than 700 immigrants have earned our nation’s highest award for battlefield valor. They have served our country during wars with heroism “beyond the call of duty” – many of them losing their lives or being seriously injured.
Contrary to immigration critics, these sacrifices are not meaningless.
Citizenship Promises, Deportation Realities
As an immigration attorney specializing in deportation defense, I’ve seen the trauma many military veterans experience when they return home.
Pyschological and emotional adjustment takes time. During this period, some veterans have problems with their marital relationships; others get into small troubles with the law. These types of problems are usually caused, in part, by trauma which is left undiagnosed and untreated.
For immigrant veterans, these adjustment difficulties can lead to deportation problems.
Take Rohan Coombs.
A U. S. Marine Corps veteran who served during the Persian Gulf War, Coombs now sits in immigration detention at El Centro, California.
When Coombs returned home, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He was never treated for his condition. Shortly after his wife died, he was arrested for possession of six ounces of marijuana. His public defender persuaded him to accept a guilty plea.
Coombs spent eight months in state jail. On the day of his release, he was transferred to immigration authorities. He discovered he was not a U. S. citizen. The government began deportation proceedings against him.
Coombs was shocked. When he signed up for the military, Coombs was told that all he had to do was fill out an application for citizenship. The government would take care of the rest. He promptly filled out and submitted his application, a fact documented by immigration records showing they received his papers. They were never processed.
Now, Coombes, a permanent resident, falls under regulations which classify many non-violent misdemeanors as aggravated felonies under immigration law. These crimes lead to automatic loss of an immigrant’s lawful resident status – and deportation from a country served with dignity.
Immigrant Military Veterans Deserve Better
Coombs is not alone.
Approximately 3,000 immigrant military veterans from wars in Vietnam, Grenada, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan are presently imprisoned awaiting deportation. Some are being deported even though state courts did not impose any jail time for their infractions.
The vast majority of these cases involve nothing more serious than minor misdemeanors. Most of them are related to PTSD conditions.
As outlined in “Immigration Fairness: The Need to Restore Judicial Discretion In Deportation Cases, “ the rigidity of losing permanent resident status due to minor convictions demands overhaul.
Sadly, the attitude displayed by many immigration critics towards immigrant veterans is no different than the attitude they display towards immigrants in general.
They ignore, in DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s words, that “It takes a very special individual to serve and defend a nation that is not yet fully your own.”
In my view, a special waiver should be provided for immigrant veterans trapped in the deportation process due to minor offenses – a waiver which would allow veterans to complete the citizenship process based on their military service.
April 28, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I believe that this whole immigration issue has totally gotten out of hand and in many cases does far more harm than good.
April 30, 2010 at 1:05 am
Immigrants who serve in our military should be given citizenship. There should be no doubt about it.
April 30, 2010 at 7:35 pm
am a deported veteran. please bring us home to our families
from san salvador el salvador
May 1, 2010 at 2:57 pm
lol fun story man.
May 7, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Yes, green card holders do serve in our Military but I’m not sure otherwise they can? Please inform.
January 21, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Yes, the government is now accepting foreigners who are visiting our conntry on certain visas and they handing the U.S. Citizenship before they even graduate basic training. So if this person gets booted out of the service on dishonorable conduct, they are still U.S. Citizens and immune from deportation. But our government continues to deport honorable members of service.
May 14, 2010 at 4:59 pm
[…] Deportation Or Citizenship: Immigrant Military Veterans At A Crossroads […]
May 15, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Now! It’s obvious,racist,neo-nazis,white supremacists started the expulsion of immigrants.Who’s next,U.S.Citizens of colour or mix race?
August 3, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Like my parents I was born in the USA, and I am a proud US Veteran. As for those who serve in our Military from other countries, including illegal immigrants, my opinion is we should honor their devotion to America by providing them with the option of US citizenship. We have so many men and women who do not serve or support, but they take full advantage of the very freedoms provided to them by these brave people, the least we can do is welcome them to become Citizens… to do otherwise would be shameful and embarrassing!
God’s speed everyone. Mike M., USMC
December 30, 2011 at 4:59 am
Mike
Thank you for your reply, I read alot of posts and its refreshing to hear a logical intelligent and heart felt thank you. While the USMC has not come out and helped the effected on this issue, you have not forgotten “sempre fi”
Manny – Veteran Deported USArmy
October 29, 2010 at 11:17 pm
I am deported Marine, after 3 year service got deported back to Bosnia, if i would have died they would have given my parents an American flag, called me a hero and magically I would have been a citizen…
thank you
April 18, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Within two months of adjusting my status to legal resident, I joined the U.S. Army and was inducted on my birthday 30 April 1986 at the Military Entrance Processing station in Fresno, CA. I went on to serve with the 212th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Sill, OK. After a felony drug conviction, I was deported to El Salvador in March 2008. During my stay in U.S. I managed to raise four children. All four of them are productive members of the American politic body. I live now in Tijuana, mexico with my wife and we have been married for 26 years. So far I’ve missed all the graduations but hopefully soon enough things will change.
July 23, 2011 at 5:04 pm
I am in the same boat, and hope that soon the doors once again will open up, so that I may return to Fatherhood, and the lives of all my family members. Lets pray that this week our President Obama lights up the world by assisting us in our return.
Today I rest in Costa Rica
October 15, 2011 at 3:49 am
WILL THE LAST DEPORTED AMERICAN VETERAN…
PLEASE BRING THE FLAG
By Zoraida Colon-Collado
What do you tell the grandchild
who mirrors each step he takes?
How do you comfort the aging wife
who’s heart silently breaks?
What do you say to the neighbors
who watch him go off in cuffs?
Who will protect his daughter
when the neighborhood gang gets tough?
Where are the men who’s life he saved
When they blew off both his legs?
How do you make him plead his case
when the serviceman never begs?
How do you humble a Hero?
By locking him in a cell
and taking from him what he defended for you
and putting his family through hell.
How great is the shame of a country
that turns on those who cared
and ran without fear into bullets
where politicians never dared!
Who will wipe the tears from the little brown boy
who waves the American flag
and stands at attention to greet his mother
sent home in a body bag?
Where is the soul of a country
that repays it’s debts this way?
Patriots are not born, my friend
they choose to live that way!