Posted on 11/16/2006 1:11:18 AM PST by FreedomCalls
FRANKFURT, Germany — Clutching a framed photograph of her smiling husband and choking back tears, Salina Jimenez accepted a naturalization certificate Tuesday.
But the certificate wasn’t hers.
It belonged to her husband, Sgt. David Jimenez Almazan, a 27-year-old combat medic, who died Aug. 27 in a roadside blast in Iraq’s Anbar province.
“This is something we were both looking forward to,” said the 26-year-old Jimenez as she held the certificate after a naturalization ceremony Tuesday at the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt.
“His American dream was to give back to the country that gave him so much freedom.”
It goes without saying that he gave all he could.
More than 22,500 servicemembers have been naturalized since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, but only a handful received citizenship after dying in combat.
Almazan, who was a member of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, was the 84th, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It’s safe to say that his is a rare case.
“I’ve got to tell you, this is the first time I’ve ever done this,” said Emilio T. Gonzales, director of USCIS, as he prepared to present Jimenez with her husband’s citizenship.
A few rows ahead of Jimenez, 29 U.S. servicemembers sat waiting to receive their citizenship as well.
Gonzales, himself an Army veteran and a naturalized U.S. citizen, told the troops they were going to be asked to repeat an oath that might seem a little trite. It will ask you to bear arms on behalf of the United States, he said. “You’ve done that.”
Pfc. Guo Chen, 22, hasn’t deployed yet, but the weight of the sacrifice he might have to make wasn’t lost on him. Hearing Almazan’s story brought those risks home, but he loves being a U.S. soldier, he said.
“It’s really kind of a proud job,” said Chen, who moved to the U.S. from China less than two years ago.
Almazan had deeper U.S. roots. He moved to California from Mexico when he was 11, and spent most of his life in the San Fernando Valley. But it wasn’t until about the time he enlisted that he began to look into how to become a U.S. citizen, Jimenez said. “In his heart, he always was one.”
Almazan turned in the paperwork for his citizenship months ago, but his death left the process in limbo. It was up to his wife to push it to its end. Doing so was a no-brainer.
“I had to do it,” she said.
She smiled as she clasped her husband’s photograph and naturalization certificate in front of her.
“We had a long life ahead of us, which I’m looking forward to spending in his name and his honor.”
Here was your suggestion.
Try this scenario and see if it still sounds good:
A terrorist, we'll call him MuqMuq al Sadr, decides he wants to get his hands on U.S. weapons rather than the RPG and AK that he's been carrying. His imam has been telling him that, as a card carrying muslim, he's duty bound to fight the great satan. Lying about his faith may well occur.
More dangerous than Muqmuq getting U.S. weapons would be when he and thousands of his taqiya practicing compatriots also get to vote.
Absolutely, the question is would you rather he did whatever he's been brainwashed to do right next to you or downrange?
What does any of that have to do with his becoming a citizen when he takes the oath?
Pledging an oath to the U.S. doesn't necessarily mean anything as Murtha, Carry, and clinton have proven (repeatedly).
I'll answer your question with a question (then I'm done talking about this subject)
Which, in your opinion, is more dangerous, the non-U.S. voting terrorist or the one who is a citizen and can vote for democrats (it's highly unlikely the terrorists will ever vote Republican)?
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/enlstandards_2.htm
Citizenship
While there is a statutory requirement that only a United States Citizen may become a commissioned officer, this is not true for enlistment. Certain non-citizens can enlist in the United States Armed Forces. To be eligible to enlist, a non-citizen must:
(1) Entered the United States on a permanent residence visa or has an Alien Registration Receipt Card (INS Form 1-551/I-551 greencard or stamped I-94), and
(2) Established a bona fide residence, and
(3) Established a home of record in the United States.
The visa and/or "greencard" must have sufficient time remaining on it (expiration date) to be valid during the entire term on enlistment. While non-citizens may enlist in the U.S. Military, they are not allowed to reenlist (stay in beyond their first term of service), unless they first become U.S.Citizens.
However, there are accelerated citizenship procedures for non-citizens on active duty. For details, see our article, U.S. Citizenship in the Military.
I get lots of email from non-U.S. citizens, who do not live in the U.S., asking how they can join the U.S. Military. Quite simply, you can't. In order to join any branch of the United States Military, one must either be a U.S. Citizen, or one must be a legal immigrant, currently living in the United States, with a "green card." The United States Military cannot and will not assist in the immigration process. In order to join the U.S. Military, one must legally immigrate first, and then apply to join the military, once they are living in the U.S.
For enlistment purposes, citizens of the United States include citizens of: Guam, Puerto Rico, The U.S. Virgin Islands,The Northern Marianas Islands, American Samoa, The Federated States of Micronesia, and The Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Not all non-citizens may be eligible to enlist. Applicants who have been residents of countries considered hostile to the interests of the United States require a waiver. See your local recruiter for the most current list of countries considered hostile to the interests of the United States.
While non-citizens may enlist, they will find their job choices extremely limited. DOD policy prohibits granting security clearances to non-U.S. Citizens. Therefore, non-Citizens. who enlist in the United States military will be limited to those jobs which do not require a security clearance.
See #28. Illegals cannot enlist.
Sad story. God Bless this man's family.
"Taqiyya is the dispensation allowing Islamic believers to conceal their faith when under threat, persecution or compulsion."
Sounds like the only rational explaination for Jimmy Carter.
I think early in the WOT President Bush gave an opportunity for illegals to become legal if they would join the military. He may fit in that category.
"Illegals cannot enlist."
But they can, and they do.
FROM OCTOBER 2003:
Abolishing America (cont.): P.C. Insanity At the Pentagon
By Michelle Malkin
If Osama bin Laden snuck into our country illegally, bought fake immigration papers, and changed his name to Osmundo Ben Ladeño, could he join the U.S. military?
You betcha!
Last week, the Army announced that Pvt. Juan Escalante, a 19-year-old illegal alien from Mexico who had used a $50 bogus green card to enlist, would be allowed to remain in the armed forces.
Wait, there’s even more good news for ID fakers looking to infiltrate the military: Thanks to President Bush’s executive order allowing non-citizen soldiers to obtain expedited naturalization benefits, Escalante—an admitted, two-time lawbreaker—will be rewarded with American citizenship. Army officials at Fort Stewart, Ga., have promised to actively assist Escalante in securing legal status.
An estimated 10,000 non-citizens in uniform have now applied for fast-track citizenship. The pander bears at the Pentagon have no idea how many are illegal aliens who used fake papers to enlist.
Be all that you can be, be whoever you say you want to be, and an Army paycheck is yours.
Isn’t there a federal law against knowingly hiring illegal aliens?
Why, yes, there is. United States Code, Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part VIII, Section 1324(a) states unambiguously: “It is unlawful for a person or other entity to hire, or to recruit…for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien.” The same section of the law also makes clear that any person “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law” who “harbors…such alien in any place” shall be “fined” or “imprisoned.”
And, hey, isn’t there something in the U.S. Military Oath of Office mandating that all personnel inducted in the armed forces respect our laws?
Why, yes, there is. U.S. Code, Title 10, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 31, Section 502 requires inductees to swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The military oath also requires enlistees to abide by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which, under Subchapter X, Article 83, makes fraudulent enlistment by any person who “procures his own enlistment or appointment in the armed forces by knowingly false representation” punishable by court-martial.
And, wait, isn’t the Department of Homeland Security trying to root out and deport illegal aliens using fake IDs to work on military bases?
Why, yes, it is. This February, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) arrested 37 illegal aliens at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming—many of whom had used fake papers to gain employment and access to the headquarters of the nation's largest arsenal of intercontinental nuclear missiles. In July, another group of illegal aliens with fake Social Security numbers were arrested at Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. Last month, BICE arrested 14 more illegal aliens employed by a San Diego Navy contractor. They use fake green cards and Social Security numbers to get jobs with repairing military ships. Four more illegal aliens were arrested last month at Grand Forks (S.D.) Air Force Base. Two were charged with possessing counterfeit immigration documents. The other two are being deported.
None of those arrested in the illegal-alien sweeps at our military facilities has been tied to Islamic terrorism. But the point being driven home by BICE is that if “well-meaning” immigration outlaws can penetrate our bases, so can far more nefarious con artists from abroad.
If homeland defense experts understand that employing illegal aliens who used false ID to get contracting jobs at military installations is an obvious national security concern, then why can’t the Pentagon see that allowing them to join the ranks is even more threatening to our laws, order, and sovereignty? (And what does it say about the competence of Army recruiters when they can’t identify a cheap fake green card from a real one? It’s not like Pvt. Escalante was applying for a job at T.J. Maxx.)
One of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s famous rules is: “If you foul up, tell the president and correct it fast.”
Well, hurry up, Mr. Rumsfeld. This P.C. insanity at the Pentagon is killing us softly from within.
FROM MAY 2006
Illegal aliens? maybe....
Military-Trained Gang Members Worry Police
WTVD By Gilbert Baez
(05/03/06 - FAYETTEVILLE) - An unlikely place has become the new battleground for American gangs. Gang leaders want their members to sign up for military duty so they can learn urban combat tactics.
The FBI says the gang members are getting valuable lessons on the streets of Baghdad.
Images of graffiti in Iraqi combat zones is capturing attention. Military personnel who are gang members in their hometowns allegedly put it there. Fayetteville police officer Hunter Glass, a gang expert, says whoever did the graffiti knew exactly what they were doing.
He says he is not surprised by what he calls the infiltration of gang members in the military. Glass blames recruiters.
"With millions of gang members out there, it may seem like a great place to recruit from as an element, but the problem is is that gangs are a problem," he said.
One shocking video shows a gang member, who also served as a Marine in Iraq, using urban warfare tactics to kill a California police officer and seriously wound two others.
Military leaders at Fort Bragg are aware of the issue of gang members in the military, but they do not believe the problem is out of control.
"Anyone who comes in the military and serves here at Fort Bragg or deploys and is involved in urban combat and warfare learn techniques and skills they can share with anyone," said spokesman Col. Billy Buckner. "It's not limited to just people who have maybe have affiliations with gangs."
But Glass says more should be done to keep gang members out of the military because the urban warfare and firearm skills they learn can be deadly when the come back home.
"Combine all that together, and you can create some super gangs," he warned."
If he was a Soldier in the US Army, he would not have been able to enlist as an illegal alien. Resident alien, yes, illegal, no.
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