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Posted on 03/04/2026 7:04:13 AM PST by TheDon
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida veteran who served in the U.S. Marines during the Persian Gulf War has lost his federal court case in his decade-long fight for U.S. citizenship — and now faces deportation to a country that may no longer claim him.
Paul Canton, a retired U.S. Marine who lives in Ocala, was denied legal status by a federal judge, officially ending his years-long legal battle to become an American citizen.
"I feel lost. I relied on the legal system so that they could go ahead and clarify the law and see what we saw,” Canton said.
Canton was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia. He originally came to the United States legally on a visitor exchange visa when he was a teen. Despite overstaying that visa, he was recruited into the U.S. Marines during the Persian Gulf War era — under what he described to us in 2024 as a "false promise" of citizenship upon honorable discharge.
"I was told, if I got an honorable discharge, then I would get citizenship at the end of my tour, automatically," Canton said.
That promise, he said, never materialized.
"I got out, assumed I had citizenship," Canton said.
Canton went on to marry, have children, work, and build a life in Florida. He has no criminal record. He even voted in U.S. elections — believing he was an American citizen. It wasn't until a routine trip to renew his driver's license that he discovered he was not in the country legally.
According to his immigration attorney, Elizabeth Ricci, Canton's citizenship denial hinges on a U.S. law that grants naturalization to veterans — but only if they actively served during a designated period of hostility. While Canton was recruited during that period, he was not called to duty in the Selective Reserve until two weeks after that designated period of hostility ended, explained Ricci.
"This is an absurd result. And when people think of undocumented immigrants, they really don't think of someone who is blonde and blue-eyed, speaks English fluently, entered the country legally, and served honorably in the US Marines," Ricci said.
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone and photojournalist Matthew Apthorp first reported on Canton's case in 2024 and took his story to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. While both acknowledged the unusual nature of his situation, neither offered solutions.
State Rep. Kathy Castor said Canton "should be treated like royalty in this country." State Rep. Gus Bilirakis said it "sounds like he's done enough to earn the citizenship." Still, no legislative action followed.
Now, Canton is preparing for the possibility of being forced out of the country he served.
"Deportation, there's no other option," Canton said about his future.
"Funds have been set aside to pay the bills. And then my oldest son, he has power of attorney over me, and so he'll be taking over the house and selling it and selling everything in the house," Canton said.
Where Canton would be deported to remains an open and troubling question. When he agreed to serve in the U.S. military, America stripped him of his homeland citizenship — leaving this veteran, widower, and father of two effectively stateless.
"I don't even have any identification to prove who I am," Canton said.
Despite everything, Canton said his love for America has not changed.
"No, it hasn't. It's just the bureaucracy and the way I just feel kind of betrayed," Canton said.
Ricci said that because Canton illegally voted in U.S. elections, he is ineligible for any immigration benefit. His only options to avoid deportation are for a member of Congress to pass a bill naturalizing him or for the president to intervene.
"I would like to get what I've earned. I'm not asking for anything more," Canton said.
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Not sure how you think you can become a citizen without paperwork.
I thought citizenship was granted to noncitizens who served in our military. Didn’t that used to be the case?
First of all, never assume, buddy. Second, when I see a story like this, I always suspect that there is more too it. Every deportation story in the press is propaganda and twisted into a sob story. The press does itself no favors with how extremely one sided it is with these stories.
...or after voting illegally in U.S. elections.
One's birth certificate qualifies as paperwork that creates automatic citizenship. No further paperwork required.
Perhaps he thought the paperwork related to his military service functioned in the same way. Military service equals automatic citizenship.
Other than overstaying his visa and voting illegally in U.S. elections according to the article.
"And when people think of undocumented immigrants"
...they know that the phrase "undocumented immigrants" is woke newspeak for those who are in the U.S.A. illegally and are therefore criminals, i.e. guilty of committing a crime.
No paperwork and never sworn in as a naturalized citizen, the guy fought for America and I respect that....but he seems either very naive or incredibly stupid.
“.......a retired U.S. Marine who lives in Ocala...”
He retired from the Marines and never figured out he had to do the paperwork? His command never said anything?
No Automatic Citizenship: Even with 20 years of service, a service member must file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization and meet all eligibility requirements.
Service Requirement: An honorable discharge and at least one year of service (active duty or Selected Reserve) are usually required.
Hostile Environment Clause: Under INA Section 329, if serving during designated periods of conflict (including post-9/11), the one-year requirement is waived, allowing for application after just one day of service.
Application Timing: The application should be filed while still in the service or within six months of separation.
Citizenship is not automatic. He must apply for it within 6 months of discharge. He didn’t apply. If he did retire from the Marines, He should see a JAG Officer.
Good news for him is the pension and perhaps VA benefits will follow him to his next country. At least he won’t be penniless like some.
yes, but you still have to go thru the process, you don’t just get handed a naturalization certificate. There were a couple of vets at my naturalization ceremony.
I question how he was ever allowed to join up in the 1st place, since he was only here on an expired student type visa.
Perhaps the recruitment office was anxious to meet its quota?
“Not sure how you think you can become a citizen without paperwork.”
Agree. I must admit, he served and was honorably discharged. To me, if your willing to serve and fight for the US, you deserve to immigrate. People want to serve to earn citizenship, as an American I don’t have a problem with that. If I were President, I would intervene to help this Vet.
So I slept through the Supreme court opinion releases because I stayed up late watching the Texas primary election results.
One opinion of interest was released and it was regarding immigration.
Justice Jackson. It is Urias-Orellana v. Bondi and it is unanimous.
This is an immigration case about the appropriate standard of review in a case involving asylum seekers.
The court of appeals upheld a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which had held that the family had not demonstrated past persecution or established a well-founded fear of future persecution.
And the BIA ordered their removal.
The Supreme Court holds today that the court of appeals applied the correct standard of review — the substantial evidence standard.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-777_9ol1.pdf
Having served with several non citizen soldiers, I guarantee this guy was told in detail how this citizenship thing worked. As far as the U.S. stripping his New Zeland citizenshiip, I call BS. New Zeland may have disenfranchized him but the U.S. did not. This is a BS propaganda story.
He shouldn’t have ‘assumed’; something like the granting of citizenship involves documentation, and anyone with common sense would ask for it.
I was waiting for that.
L
I have no sympathy for this guy, but it is patently absurd he will be deported, but not Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
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