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Illegal Immigrant GI To Be Granted U.S. Citizenship
Pfc. Juan Escalante, who joined the Army and fought in Iraq after showing a fake green card he bought for $50, passed a civics and history test Wednesday morning and will be allowed to remain in the United States. Escalante, a Mexican, planned to take his U.S. citizenship oath at 3 p.m., during a ceremony at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Welcome, Juan, and thank you.
The Army normally requires that any illegal immigrants who get caught after fraudulently enlisting be discharged. Once discharged, they may be deported. The service, however, said it aided Escalante in pursuing citizenship because he was a valuable soldier who would do the country more good as a citizen than a deported immigrant. Escalante served in Iraq for four months.
Wow, the Army doing the right thing. That pegged the meter.
Escalante’s immigration attorney, Glen Prior, has said the Army doesn’t plan to discharge his client even though he misled a recruiter.
However, somebody needs to talk to the investigator who did the backround check after his enlistment.
There are 37,401 noncitizens in the active-duty military. About 3,000 served in the war in Iraq. It’s not known how many are illegal immigrants.
I’d say a small percentage.
President Bush signed an executive order on July 3, 2002, speeding the citizenship process for active-duty personnel. The order helped Escalante avoid the lengthy process of having to get a green card before seeking citizenship.
A very good move.
Aren't Army ID cards still green?
Escalante was born in Mexico and he was 4 when he crossed illegally into the United States with his mother. He grew up in Seattle and signed a four-year contract with the Army after graduating from high school in 2002. He served as a mechanic in Kuwait and Iraq for four months as a member of the 1st Brigade of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, which launched the ground invasion that began the Iraq war. While the Army has worked to grant Escalante citizenship, federal immigration authorities are still planning to deport his parents, Bernardo and Silvia Escalante.
Somebody take a cluebat to these bozos.
The law allows illegal immigrants to become permanent residents if they’ve lived in the country for more than 10 years, have good moral character and can prove a U.S.-born dependent would suffer extreme hardship if they were deported. The Escalantes have lived in the United States for 15 years and have two younger U.S.-born children, ages 10 and 12. Seattle Immigration Judge Anna Ho last year denied their petition for legal permanent residency, though. She said they failed to show that being sent back to Mexico would cause exceptional hardship to their younger children. The couple have implored the Board of Immigration Appeals to reverse the decision. Prior has said that if Juan Escalante becomes a citizen, he will appeal the decision against Escalante’s parents, arguing the soldier would face a hardship if his parents were deported.
Can’t he sponsor his parents when he becomes a citizen? Don’t know much about this law, but I’d say it would be a piss poor way to thank him for his service to kick his parents out.
Posted by: Steve 2004-02-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=26051