Noncitizen soldiers - Mercenaries or Patriots?

There are 60,000 immigrants in the U.S. military. They represent two percent of the total service personnel on active duty. About half are noncitizens, with 15,880 in the navy; of those, 5,046 are from the Philippines. More than 6,000 Marines are noncitizens, with the largest group, 1,452, from Mexico.

In 2004, President Bush signed an order allowing all active-duty immigrants serving as of Sept. 11, 2001, the opportunity to apply for U.S. citizenship without waiting the usual three years, and without having to be physically present in the States in order to apply. Now, legal immigrants serving in the army, navy, marine corps, air force, coast guard, parts of the national guard and Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve may be eligible to apply for citizenship if they can:

1. Demonstrate good moral character/have no criminal record,
2. Can speak English,
3. Can demonstrate knowledge of U.S. government and history, and take an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

The applicant must also have served honorably during one year of conflict, have a green card, or have been present in the U.S. at time of enlistment. The application must be filed within six months of discharge. About 100 noncitizens have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have received their citizenship posthumously (read story).

Army Spc. Maria Juarez, 25, enlisted because she "wanted to give something back."   The Zacatecas, Mexico, native came to the United States with her family in 1993, settling in South Texas. Nine years later, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, she joined the Army as soon as she got her green card.  "I knew we'd be going to war, and I wanted to help this country that had given me and my family opportunity," she said. After a year tour in Iraq, Spc. Juarez is ready to apply for citizenship. "I feel like an American, and now I want to be a citizen, to have my complete rights, to vote, and be part of the system."  Her mother and father in San Juan are happy with her decision.   "They didn't want me to join the Army, but now they're happy because it lets me become a citizen," she said, adding that her parents want to become citizens, too.

 Worries that noncitizen soldiers will lead to a day-labor military or about the commitment of immigrant soldiers is baseless, said Margaret D. Stock, an authority on immigration law and part-time lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy.   "It won't happen. Noncitizens are a small percentage of the military, and that won't change greatly," she said. "Expedited citizenship is a reward for putting their lives on the line, not to buy their service. ... I've never met an immigrant who enlisted just for the possibility of citizenship."  

A recent change in US law has given the Pentagon authority to bring immigrants to the United States for the sole purpose of enlisting them in the military.  So far, the Pentagon has not taken advantage of it, but the calls are growing to take use the new authority.  Michael O'Hanlon , a military specialist at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and others noted that the country has relied before on sizable numbers of noncitizens to serve in the military -- in the Revolutionary War, for example, German and French soldiers served alongside the colonists, and locals were recruited into US ranks to fight insurgents in the Philippines.  Other nations have recruited foreign citizens: In France, the famed Foreign Legion relies on about 8,000 noncitizens; Nepalese soldiers called Gurkhas have fought and died with British Army forces for two centuries; and the Swiss Guard, which protects the Vatican, consists of troops who hail from many nations.

So what do you think?

• Do you think that we are taking advantage of immigrants?
• Should any immigrant, including illegal immigrants, who want to serve in our military be given the chance to earn their citizenship by serving in the military?

Sources:

• Dallas Morning News, November 28, 2006
• Immigration Daily
• Boston Globe, December 26, 2006