Illegal immigrant soldier, back from Iraq, faces possible deportation

registerguard.com ^ | 12 Sep 03 | AP

[cyborg]

Escalante was 4 when his parents entered the United States illegally.

*** Did anyone in this thread miss this? He was four. He didn't exactly come over here recently, as if a four year old has a choice in anything.

[cyborg]

Why do you assume that?

[cyborg]

I agree... amazing how the criminals walk free but a man serving the military who was four when he came here!

[W. W. SMITH]

Be carful, do too good a job and do more than three years. Three times I had orders back to the fleet that would have made me E8 and 9 and three times the command cancelled the oders and extended me a year while telling me how bad I was as a recruiter. But then I did refuse to play their game. The navy belonged to me and still does, my son is in navy ROTC at the Citadel. I never lied or faked paper work and what realy set them off was my refusal to process some individuals into "my" navy. I would have stayed for 30 years but begrudged them the three days past 20 when I retired.

[garybob]

An inspector general asked Escalante about his enlistment while he was in Iraq, he said. Escalante said he told the official about the fake green card he used to enlist, and nothing came of it.

It has been my experience that IG's do not go around asking privates about their enlistments without a compelling reason. The company chain of command probably smelled a rat and called the IG.

It is possible this guy is a sub-standard soldier. After all, this article only tells Escalante's side of the story. Wonder what his First Sergeant would say?

[No Truce With Kings]

"So that is it, huh? Lie, cheat, or steal, just serve and citizenship is gauranteed?"

He was brought to this country as a four-year-old. No choice about that, hoss. When he turns 18 he joins the Army. He lies to do it, but so did Audie Murphy (as another poster pointed out). Then he *volunteers* to go to Iraq and join his unit -- which is being shot at. Then he does his job well for the length of his deployment -- which includes standing guard duty in Indian country. That ain't "just serving." He did not steal anything, either.

And *you* want to kick him out of this country?

He has earned the privilege of staying. At least until his hitch is up. And if he has no black marks by then, why yes, I would feel it appropriate to grant him citizenship. That is how my grandpappy got his -- five months in combat with the 36th Infantry during WWI.

[TADSLOS]

He's already done more for this country as an illegal than the vast majority of full fledged American Citizens his age. He earned his citizenship and should it should be granted to him.

[FITZ]

I'm starting to lean toward "regime change" in Mexico, and forcibly drag that country out of feudalism and into the 21st century.

With at least 25% of their fighting age men in the USA, now would be a good time to do it. They're saying half of the entire state of Zacatecas is living in the US --- something is seriously wrong when that many people leave their homeland. No end in sight.

[JamminJAY]

Didn't the first President Bush fudge his age by a year to get into the Navy?

So did I but I got caught in boot camp, when I was "legal" I went back.

Jammer

[FITZ]

Plus the type that joins the military is a type that is willing to assimilate and speak our language plus work for their living. Certainly this guy shouldn't be one of the only ones deported. One good thing about taking their potential army guys, is it would make the Mexicans real easy to beat should it come to that.

[Paulie]

``I wasn't trying to get into trouble,'' he told The Seattle Times. ``All I was thinking about was getting in.''

Sure, no problem. I guess since you weren't TRYING to get caught we're supposed to let it slide.

Also, I notice he wasn't thinking about serving the United States, just about 'getting in'. Some might argue that I'm splitting hairs on that one but I think it's an important and telling distinction.

[Poohbah]

With at least 25% of their fighting age men in the USA, now would be a good time to do it.

Hmm. An out-of-the-box idea struck me: VERY conditional amnesty in return for service in an American foreign legion to liberate Mexico. Once their service was completed, they wouldn't be granted automatic residency in the US, but they wouldn't be permanently enjoined from reentry for short-term visits (day trips for shopping, tourist visas, et cetera). They'd be eligible to apply for legal entry into the US under the standard quota. Exceptional heroism would earn some sort of head-of-the-line priveleges in that department.

They're saying half of the entire state of Zacatecas is living in the US --- something is seriously wrong when that many people leave their homeland. No end in sight.

In the 19th through mid-20th centuries, we could tolerate a feudalist Third World nation on our southern border, because the US southwest was an arid wasteland with no means of rapid travel elsewhere. Now, we can't.

[Texas_Dawg]

Some folks deserve to be cut a little slack, and this soldier is one of them.

You damn Communiss.

[PRND21]

Keep the kid. Deport the Democrats.

Bump

[rangerwife]

Oh gosh, I hope not. His 1SG counseled him on converting this past week and he said no way. I really think in the current situation in the world, that wouldn't happen, at least I'm praying it won't. He's going to the 82nd Airborne Div. after this tour. He'll be eligible for E8 next year, but he knows he needs to get back to the line to make himself look better for promotion since he's been out of it for 3 years. Plus, recruiting command has already had to let recruiters go back to the regular army, they were told to downsize the recruiting force. It is just that his BN was letting the dead weight go. He begged to get out of here early, but like I said earlier, he's been pretty successful and they let the recruiters who weren't so hot go back. The Army is also starting to field civilian recruiters. They have a couple of them in his BN already.

Hubby also refuses to play their games. But, it has been very very frustrating for him. I've never seen him so down and out sometimes. So it has been a trying tour for us. I've had to learn some serious patience...LOL! He's never lied or faked paperwork either, but others have. Others (full time recruiters) have also done some downright illegal stuff, and they get promoted within recruiting command. Hubby is pretty good at knowing which recruits will be good for the Army and which ones he wouldn't touch with a 10ft pole. I think a big source of hubby's frustration is the simple fact that he won't play their games and so, he's gotten a label for being a rebel or different from them. He's seen as the difficult one. Well, hubby's got 7 years till retirement. I think once he gets back with the troops, his outlook will brighten. He was due to ETS in January and he was seriously considering getting out after this tour, but he didn't. He reenlisted on indefinite status, so he'll be in till his 20 at least. I told him it was crazy to let this job get to him that bad and make him want to get out the Army that he loves. I kept telling him that there's a light at the end of the tunnel!!

[dark_lord]

So that is it, huh? Lie, cheat, or steal, just serve and citizenship is gauranteed?

At the age of 4, persons are not held responsible for their actions.

[agrace]

It was said in sarcasm. Not the outrageous part, because I think it IS outrageous that an illegal alien can legally purchase a house. The sarcasm was regarding HUD, because why not get a govt secured loan to boot.

[cyborg]

You bring up an interesting point. When my mom applied for a mortgage loan, why they wanted to see her SS card and her citizenship papers,etc. How exactly DOES an illegal alien get a mortgage? UNLESS... they paid for it outright in cash. My dad had my mother do the loan to establish credit, but he paid the house off in cash. I am not familiar with HUD but if it's anything like student financial AID, I want nothing to do with it!