(Given info regarding the differences between migrants, illegal migrants, I've changed the title to "Would..." since it's more a speculative argument than anything else.)
On it's face, the answer to this question is probably no.
However, this question stems from a comment I received on this post I wrote yesterday about U.S. Navy petty officer second class Eduardo Gonzalez and the current situation he's facing:
Eduardo Gonzalez, a petty officer second class with the U.S. Navy, is about to be deployed overseas for a third time. Making his deployment even tougher is the fact his wife may not be around when he comes back.
His wife faces deportation to Guatemala -- her home country that she hasn't seen since 1989. He also doesn't know what would happen to his young son, Eduardo Jr., if that happens.
...
Gonzalez, who works on helicopters that bring cargo, supplies and military personnel in and out of Iraq, testified before a House Judiciary Committee panel last month, detailing his situation and urging officials to consider some sort of policy to deal with cases like his, where military members' families could be deported while they're defending their country overseas.
To cut to the skinny, his wife is facing deportation and it might occur, unless something stops it, while he's away overseas on his third deployment. That's a pretty shitty scenario to be facing, especially when there's a kid involved.
What's worse, however, was a comment by Mark Krikorian, who is:
..the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which lobbies for tougher laws on illegal immigration.
and who said:
"What you're talking about is amnesty for illegal immigrants who have a relative in the armed forces, and that's just outrageous," he said. "What we're talking about here is letting lawbreakers get away with their actions just because they have a relative in the military. ... There's no justification for that kind of policy."
So I've been thinking about this today and why we can't just recognize this man's valor, commitment, bravery and sacrifice in the name of the United States and make his wife a full citizen or at least remove the fear of her deportation until at least Gonzalez is finished with his service and they can relax a little and then concentrate on what they need to do to resolve her status problems.
That, of course, depends on whether he finishes his service alive or not.
Get it right you socialist nut,
Illegal Aliens Have No Rights In This Country
therealdeal | 10.03.07 - 8:58 pm | #
Now, I don't know what's so socialist about hastening and facilitating an acceptable outcome to this fine soldier's problem. It seems simple enough - he's taking the ultimate risk and possibly might make the ultimate sacrifice. I'm sure all he wants is for his wife to have either citizenship or an extended visa until she can complete citizenship requirements but I think this issue raises a couple conundrums for conservatives who claim to support the troops but who also have serious and vicious issues with illegal immigrants.
Family
Time and time again, we hear the rally cry of conservatives and their "focus on the family", how important marriage is, how it's only to be between a man and a woman, and how when making their case, they frequently cite statistics that show that married couples live longer, live happier, make more money, and are enjoy other physical as well as financial benefits, all because they are married.
Furthermore, when there's a child involved in a loving, committed and married relationship, especially one between a man and a woman, the child is going to have the potential the merit the most benefit from this arrangement.
So it would seem that in this scenario, the best thing for these people is to remain married and together, not only for their own life benefits, but also for their child's benefit.
Yet by deporting this woman, it would break up a family, the importance of which conservatives seem to hold on an especially high pedestal. How could they possibly justify this if aside from her citizenship status and his service for this nation in a time of war, no other crimes, injustices, or felonies had been committed?
They come from Mexico, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Colombia, Cambodia and a hundred other countries across the globe to find the promise of America. Increasingly they enlist to fight, and sometimes die, in America's wars.
About 69,300 foreign-born men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces, roughly 5 percent of the total active-duty force, according to the most recent data. Of those, 43 percent -- 29,800 -- are not U.S. citizens. The Pentagon says more than 100 immigrant Soldiers have died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President Bush and Congress, citing long-established wartime powers, streamlined the process by which immigrants in the armed forces could become naturalized citizens.
As of October, more than 25,000 immigrant Soldiers had become U.S. citizens as a result. Another 40,000 are believed eligible to apply. And roughly a third of non citizens in the all-volunteer military come from Mexico and Central America.
"Latinos are very patriotic and see military service as a way to show their appreciation to America and to prove they can be 'real Americans,' " said Dr. Jorge Mariscal, director of Chicano Studies at the University of California at San Diego.
That's a lot of people. And not only is that a lot of people, that's a lot of soldiers, boots on the ground, if you will, risking their lives to defend ours, (something that many who currently defend this war but who chose not to enlist and defend this nation when they had the opportunity, as legal citizens, I might add) whether they are our legal brothers or not. Should we kick them out because they're illegal immigrants? Should we honor their courage and valor for serving to defend this nation which they entered illegally?
America's top general testified emotionally Monday about the importance of immigrants in the military, recalling his father's struggles as an Italian immigrant and his own service in Vietnam.
General Peter Pace of the Marines paused several times as he spoke at a Senate committee hearing on immigration and appeared choked up as he discussed his parents' hardships and his siblings' success now.
"My dad came here, sometimes worked three jobs, but the jobs were there for him and the opportunities were there for him," Pace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, said at a field hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "There is no other country on the planet that affords that opportunity to those who come."
Pace also discussed serving in Vietnam next to immigrant soldiers, including the first Marine that Pace said he lost in combat. He said he was "still on active duty today for one primary reason, and that is I still owe those who served with me in Vietnam."
Pace said 200 awards or medals have gone to non-U.S. citizens in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that 101 non- U.S. citizens have died in military action since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Senator Edward Kennedy said it would be an affront to the members of the military who are immigrants to make felons of their family members. Kennedy cited statistics that showed24,400 non-U.S. citizens are on active duty in the armed forces.
Wow! I'm shocked to hear that 200 awards or medals have been given to the same freeloading, illegal border crossing immigrants who came into this country under false merit, the same people who "suck our resources", "abuse our emergency departments", "flood our schools", and "who kill people" being honored not only by a General in the United States military, of all entities, but also being given medals and awards! Some even died for this nation!
You know, in all the recent outrage over MoveOn.org and Rush Limbaugh's statements about "the phony soldiers", perhaps we need to revisit exactly what makes a phony soldier a phony soldier since it seems there's so many currently serving to defend this nation, if you consider falsified documents to enter this country "phony."
There's some food for thought.
Update/Addendum - Just so we're clear, I though I'd add a little about what Rush Limbaugh thinks about illegal immigrants:
...foreigners will not have the right to vote...
...in our country, you cannot be a burden to taxpayers...
...you're not entitled to food stamps, or welfare, or other government goodies...
Hmm...last time I checked, our soldiers who are defending this nation as I write this, are doing it on my dime.
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