They broke the rules, but no one could argue that their motivations were anything but pure. Same for the 15 year old. Let’s assume for sake of argument there was no lying involved. How you ask? Well what if a kid is brought here @ 3, provided documents by his parents, and honestly believes he’s a citizen. At 18, with a HS diploma he enlists in the military using the documents provided by his parents and accepted by the government. He serves. Let’s add he wins medals of valor. Perhaps is wounded in the line of duty. At some point, it’s learned that he gained entry into the United States unlawfully. What would be the American way to treat him? BTW, I’m with you on excluding liars from expedited citizenship.
This sounds like it was taken right out of a La Raza discussion forum. How many illegal immigrants (even those who were brought here when they were 3) harbor the mistaken belief that they are U.S. citizens? 5? 10? The chances of what you're describing (the perfect storm, basically) is so unlikely that if it did occur, it could be turned into a made-for-TV movie. But I'll play with your hypothetical, just to amuse you. Yes, in those circumstances, I'd support giving the guy a green card, if you can prove that he genuinely didn't realize that he wasn't a U.S. citizen, and he served in combat.
Conceded my example is likely the exception not the rule. But at least we now have a point of agreement; specifically, it is not the status of the immigrant that is relevant rather it is the immigrants cognizance of that status. So the next step—and one where we disagree—is what to do with illegal/undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S., did no wrong other than existing here, and who sees him/herself as an unhyphanted American. Here I agree with the Perry position. Please don’t call me names.