Story above depicts the story of a Marine who has fought in Iraq on two deployments and is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan soon. He has fought valiantly for America, even earning a Purple Heart on one tour in Iraq. However, he is not an American citizen but desperately wants to become one. Immigrants serving in the military have fought and died for America in past conflicts and are doing more than their share in the current conflicts. Yet, many of them are having difficulties in earning their citizenship due to bureaucratic obstacles and time constraints.
Though the government has improved and attempted to streamline the process of granting citizenship to immigrants who serve honorably overseas in the U.S. military, more needs to be done. The article states that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has opened up special departments to deal with the issue, it still requires approximately 7-10 months for citizenship requests to be reviewed and granted. However, many servicemen have little to no time and money to deal with the paperwork and bureaucratic obstacles, many of which require a lawyer. With a constant state of being either deployed to a warzone, coming back from a warzone, and training to be redeployed to a warzone, these servicemen obviously have more important issues to address than acquiring a lawyer and manuevering through the bureaucratic minefield.
More needs to be done to ease the process of granting these people citizenship. I would say that these immigrants and foreigners deserve citizenship more than most “Americans” because they have served and sacrificed much more than most Americans, who have just sat idly by and shirked the calls of service to the nation they call home. While most Americans sit on the sideline drinking their Orange Mocha Frappucinos thinking nothing more of their citizenship and country than as a “right” they were born into, these servicemen are indeed protecting that right while simultaneously being denied it. Ironic. In a country that claims to be a meritocracy, one rises or falls based on their own will and actions rather on who their father was, it is sad to see these true Americans have to work so hard for a privilage they have rightly earned and deserved.
American citizenship is granted based on blood and soil, being either born to parents who are American citizens or born on American soil. Conversely, those that fight to defend and protect those same citizens and that same soil have become mired in the citizenship process, all while shedding their blood in the pursuit of the nation. Their citizenship should be granted based on that same “blood and soil” philosophy: they have shed their own blood for this country defending its soil and interests.
Interesting note: the Marine depicted in the article was raised and grew up in our own backyard, Southern California, and even attended a local high school: Santa Ana High School. When you hear stories like this, you think that it happens somewhere far off from where you are, but indeed it happens right next door.
