Camp Pendleton Marines Look Forward to U.S. Citizenship

AP ^ | Published: Jul 20, 2002 | By Seth Hettena

[Bad~Rodeo]

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Daniel Njoroge Wanjoh serves under the United States flag, although home is thousands of miles away in Nairobi, Kenya.

Wanjoh is among at least 15,000 foreign nationals serving in the military who became immediately available for citizenship, thanks to a Fourth of July gift from President Bush.

The presidential order applies to anyone serving in the armed forces on Sept. 11. Qualifying foreign nationals may now apply for citizenship right away, rather than first wait three years.

Wanjoh, 24, is filling out his paperwork and looks forward to becoming a U.S. citizen in early 2003.

"I want to serve the country as a citizen, not as a foreigner," he said Friday. "It gives me more heart to work as a citizen while serving the Marines."

Wanjoh said he decided to join the Marines in 1998, when Osama bin Laden's terrorist network attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. He was on his way home from school when he heard the blast a few blocks away. Later, he learned two of his cousins were among the dead.

"That made me ... want to become a Marine because the Marines fight terrorism," he said.

Wanjoh emigrated to the United States in January 2001 and enlisted three months later.

As a new citizen, Wanjoh, who speaks seven languages, said he will be able to apply to work in military intelligence and bring his mother and two sisters to the country.

More than 31,000 noncitizens are currently serving on active duty - about 3 percent to 4 percent of America's total military personnel. Just over half of those were already eligible for citizenship.

The rest have not yet completed their three-year wait. It is this group that would benefit from Bush's executive order eliminating any waiting period.

While legal permanent residency is all that is required to enlist in the U.S. military, only citizens can be promoted to commissioned or warrant officers, or serve in special warfare programs such as the Navy SEALs.

"There are a lot better jobs we can get as a citizen," said Cpl. Maria Miranda Enriquez. "There are more opportunities for us."

Enriquez was a high school junior in suburban Chicago when she came home one day and told her family she wanted to be a Marine. She had only emigrated from Guanajuato, Mexico, six months earlier. The 22-year-old enlisted in August 1999.

Her family initially expected her to follow a more traditional path as a woman, but their support has grown as she has moved up in the ranks. So has her love for the United States. When she graduated from boot camp in North Carolina, she cried as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played.

Both Wanjoh and Enriquez said they were glad to learn the president had made it easier for them to become citizens. They said the order was a fitting reward for their pledges to defend the nation.

"If we're serving the country, we deserve to be a U.S. citizen," Enriquez said.

[Sabertooth]

The presidential order applies to anyone serving in the armed forces on Sept. 11. Qualifying foreign nationals may now apply for citizenship right away, rather than first wait three years.

So this is a one-shot deal? Nahh, it's a precedent.

What's wrong with the three year wait? It's still faster than the five years of residence required for non-military immigrants.

Before people go rah-rah over this, consider the potential for abuse if we adopt a policy of immediate citienship for resident immigrants upon enlistment in the military...

We do have a fifth column in this country, and while their numbers aren't large, they do tend to be foreign-born. Do we want a situation where folks can get residence one day, enlist the next, and immediately apply for citenship? Or, with many in Washington trolling for votes via Amnesties for Illegals, such as Section 245(i), do we want a situation where where an Illegal gets Amnestied one day, enlists the next, and then becomes eligible for automatic citizenship?

I'm perfectly comfortable with the basic status quo, where we allow immigrants to serve in our military and they're rewarded with a two year reduction in their waiting period for citizenship.

[VA Advogado]

Uh, sure Abe. For all the chatter about Reagan and the Pope defeating the Evil Empire, and they certainly did their part, the real reason it fell, when it got right down to it, was the refusal of Russian soldiers to use their tanks against their own people.

LOL 20 million russians were killed by the Bolsheviks - their own government. They had NO problem killing ANYONE, including their own. Have you ever used facts during a debate?

[The Shrew]

I was in at the same time as you Sam and I had three Marines in my platoon that had their green cards. When things were exciting I had to tell my driver in Spanish which way to drive! More than half their paychecks went home to mom! Best form of foreign aid with the least graft this country has ever come up with!

I worked with a Gunny who coached our pistol team who came from Ghana and man could he shoot a pistol! I learned a lot. I never considered these men less than Marines!

Semper Fi!

TS

[senorita]

My grandfather served in the US Army in WWI.
However Indians weren't given US citizenship until 1924. Many people who are born in the US don't fully appreciate what being a US citizen really means.

[MissAmericanPie]

Uh sure Abe, I use facts, check out http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdkeena/NvT/25/25.11.txt. Let that be the last time you accuse me of not using facts, I use them all the time, you just don't like them because they don't fit your delusions.

[VA Advogado]

Uh sure Abe, I use facts, check out http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdkeena/NvT/25/25.11.txt. Let that be the last time you accuse me of not using facts, I use them all the time, you just don't like them because they don't fit your delusions.

LOL I checked the link and this is what I got: "The page cannot be found" You couldn't be a better strait man. LOL

[VA Advogado]

Your military and geopolitical "facts" come from a guy who has a home page containing this little nugget:

News and history of my conscientious objection to the military use of my tax

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdkeena/CO/index.htm

Someone who would cite this guy as 'factual' needs to be fitted with clown shoes and a red rubber nose.

[BluH2o]

Many immigrants know more about this country and are happier to be here than some native borns.

I can attest to that ... I served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam years. I had much better knowledge of U.S. history and geography than most of the Marines I served with ...

[FITZ]

I think an immigrant who is coming here and willing to give to this country should be put in line ahead of those who only come to get good jobs or try to get on welfare. Illegals who register for the draft would certainly be more desireable than those who don't --and by law they are required to.

[FITZ]

I would hope they'd question it if thousands of Arabs came and signed up for our military.

[FITZ]

You're right --- a reduction in the waiting time but not instant citizenship. I think anyone can think it's only fair to reward those who are willing to give over those coming just to take.

[Guillermo]

Yet another ignorant poster.

And, it's "martial" not "Marshal", idiot.

[MissAmericanPie]

Well, here is the article, I don't know what is up with the link.

Faces of Courage and Hope Many say Boris Yeltsin was the key figure in the overthrow of the August coup in Moscow. President Bush claims he deserves credit (because he "stood up" to Saddam Hussein). As a result of discussions with many Russian citizens in late August and early September when visiting Russia, I believe that the tens of thousands of courageous Russians who risked their lives standing up for their beliefs in democracy, freedom and human dignity and nonviolently resisting and refusing to cooperate with illegitimate authority, defeated the coup. Imagine, if you can, waking up on the morning of August 19 and seeing thousands of Soviet tanks occupying Moscow. Let me share with you the stories of some of these courageous people. Thousands of people all over Moscow gathered their courage and went out into the streets surrounded the tanks and greeted the soldiers in the tanks with cakes, cigarettes and roses and entered into dialogue with them. People knocked on the tanks and said to the soldiers, "Why are you here? Who gave you orders to bring these tanks into Moscow? Why are you going to shoot on people? Who are you going to shoot?" Mothers and girls gave the soldiers food, kisses and flowers and asked them not to kill their mothers and brothers and sisters. One friend distributed roses to the soldiers, gave them hugs and told them "Don't shoot! Be kind to the people!" Faced with this kind of interaction with the people they had been ordered to attack, the soldiers became very dispirited. A friend, Valya (who had a young daughter) and her mother, felt it was crucial to be at the barricades to nonviolently resist the military attack against the parliament building. They believed that whoever was at the barricades at the time of the military attack would be killed. But they knew that this was a critical moment in history, and they had found something they were willing to die for. Valya and her mother took turns at the "White House" (parliament building) so that if one of them were killed, the other would be left to bring up Valya's daughter. Between 10,000 and 40,000 people like Valya and her mother surrounded the Russia parliament building for three days and nights, August 19 - 21, much of this time in driving rain. They linked arms, forming a nonviolent human barricade between the parliament building and the thousands of Soviet tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers who had been ordered into Moscow to defend the "new order" of the coup leaders. The people called themselves the "Living Ring, The Defenders of the White House of Russia". The people build physical barricades of trolley cars, buses, old pieces of metal, and box springs around the White House - not so much because that would stop the tanks more than a few minutes, but to enable them to enter into dialogue with the attacking soldiers about what they were doing, and to convince them to discontinue the attack. The women at the barricades encouraged everyone to keep nonviolent and not to hurt the soldiers because they are our sons and brothers and we don't want them to wage war with us. Russanna, the Chair of the Russian Peace Society, said to others at the barricades, "We women must be the first to meet the soldiers with words of kindness. We are standing not for struggle, but for peace. Our goal is nonviolence, our arms are words and kindness." Russanna added, "We shouldn't be frightened of anything. Our people are around us. We are defending justice, legality and freedom." The official policy at the "Living Ring" was to strongly discourage any violence to the soldiers and to try to win them over. One of the sayings at the Living Ring was, "If we don't stand well, we'll be sitting for a long time." They were organized into groups of a hundred people all around the White House to allow for better organization and to keep their spirits up. The head of the KGB said that they could destroy and eliminate the opposition at the White House in about thirty minutes. Because there were indications that they could not count on the regular soldiers, the coup leaders ordered one of the most trusted elite KGB tank subdivisions with fifty tanks from Byelorussia to come to Moscow to attack the White House and capture or kill Yeltsin and the Russian parliament leaders. When the parliament members heard about the impending attack, some of them travelled to the edge of Moscow and met with the KGB troops. When the KGB troops heard they would have to kill hundreds or even thousands of civilians to fulfil their mission, they refused orders to carry out the attack. There were courageous people in the media who refused to obey orders and carry only the news approved by the coup leaders. For example, some of the news stations carried Yeltsin getting on the tank and calling for a general strike. Some newspapers carried blank spaces in the sections which had been censored. Employees of eleven banned newspapers united to publish a "general newspaper" printed on photocopiers, laser printers and mimeograph machines. Large quantities of the newspaper and copies of the Russian President's orders and appeals were posted at metros, bus stops, and street corners. This created gathering places where people exchanged opinions about the coup. These unplanned gatherings had great psychological impact. Multitudes of people refused to obey the curfew on the crucial night of August 20-21. Public transit continued to run. Most of Moscow seemed to be on the streets. This mass disobedience was a tremendous psychological blow to the coup leaders. In the face of all the fraternization between the people and the soldiers, the widespread lack of cooperation by the broader population, and the elite KGB troops refusing orders to attack the White House with the thousands of civilians surrounding it, the coup was fast becoming a losing cause. In Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Mayor Sobchak went on TV the first day of the coup and encouraged people to come out to the Palace Square the next day. Not many people were able to see that on TV, but people spread the word every way they could. One friend, Valodya, made 100 calls and encouraged each person he called to do the same. Four hundred thousand people showed up the next day. At first people were afraid. What would it mean to confront the tanks? But gradually, as people saw how many other people there were, they found courage and gradually come to feel that they had already won. They had lost their fear. The people defeated the coup because hundreds of thousands of them had decided they would not cooperate with illegitimate authority. They had lost or overcome their fear and the threats by the new government could no longer subdue the people into submission and cooperation. People throughout the society including elected officials, soldiers, KGB officers, Communist Party leaders, students, transportation workers, and journalists decided to listen to their consciences and their sense of what was right and just rather than to illegitimate authority. The coup leaders had at their disposal over four million soldiers, hundreds of thousands of tanks, sophisticated military aircraft, and nuclear weapons. They were overcome by a people armed with their courage and their convictions - people who were no longer willing to be scared into submission by threats of death or imprisonment. The Living Ring has now invited Americans knowledgeable about nonviolent civilian-based defense to come and help train the 10,000 members of Living Ring, so they can even better defend their society against any future coup attempts by the old guard. Under the sponsorship of Nonviolence International we are going to try to meet their request and expect to learn at least as much from them as we will share. All over the world we need to learn to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate authority and then find the courage to refuse cooperation with illegitimate authority - even in the face of intimidation and threats. If we can all do what the Russian people seem to have learned so well, dictatorial, oppressive, and imperialistic governments won't have much chance in this world. David Hartsough Originally published in Civilian-Based Defense: News and Opinion v7, no.5, December, 1991

[olliemb]

your link did not work.

[Hugin]

My only disagreement would be that they should only be eligable after they are honorably discharged.

[rabidralph]

When she graduated from boot camp in North Carolina,

Nice story, except that the stupid, lazy Clymer from AP doesn't know that Marine Corps boot camp is at Parris Island, S.C.

[Jennikins]

I would hope they'd question it if thousands of Arabs came and signed up for our military.

They won't. They're still bringing them in so they can attend our "Flight Schools." No change since 9/11.

[rabidralph]

Marshal Law

Martial Law. At least you didn't spell it with two L's.

[VA Advogado]

Your 'article' is tripe written by a man who's website indicates he hates the military. Are you not ashamed of even posting that here?

[MissAmericanPie]

He was factual in his report that the Russian military would not fight their own people. And that really is the point, not his attitude towards the military.

So back to square one, as far as I am concerned, it's risky to have foreign born in the military, in public office, etc. Americans are suppose to be vigilant against possibilities, I'm sure that's hard for you to grasp.