Mark: Among the many ways people could legally become naturalized U.S. citizens, why isn’t military service an excellent option?
People willing to serve this country are probably the most easily assimilable immigrants out there, the most likely to learn English well, and they will also be the most loyal citizens. Doesn’t that address the real concern with immigration? It isn’t like the military is currently turning people away, either.
I don’t see why even illegal aliens could not make up for breaking the law by serving the country they hope to call their own. If we offered a “uniform amnesty,” what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen – 40,000 Guatemalans sign up for the Marines and eventually become citizens? How is that bad for the country?
What’s even more important are the facts of the case described on CNN:
In Gonzalez’s case, his wife, Mildred, came to the United States with her mother in 1989 when she was 5 years old. They were granted political asylum because of their status as war refugees from Guatemala.
In September 2000, Mildred’s mother applied for legalization and included her daughter in that application. Her mother was granted legal status in July 2004, according to Gonzalez.
However, six weeks earlier, Gonzalez and Mildred got married, canceling Mildred’s ability to apply for legal status through her mother because she was no longer an unmarried daughter under the age of 21. As a result, her legal status still remains in jeopardy.
So she isn’t even an illegal immigrant! We don’t need to grant people the benefit of citizenship just because they manage to break the law and cross our border or overstay a visa, but here’s someone who played by our rules, and our rules were just too stupid. The wife of a sailor, proudly serving his country, might get deported next year, just because our immigration services have slow, bizarre processes and strange rules like the above. I don’t see how that serves the cause of justice or the rule of law.