We are nation of LEGAL immigrants.
Posted on 02/07/2007 7:35:36 PM PST by InvisibleChurch
ON January 11th Robert Gates, the secretary of defence, proposed increasing the size of the army and marines by 92,000 troops over the next five years. Doing so will be a challenge. Recruiters have thought of everything: higher enlistment bonuses, lower standards, turning a blind eye to the tattooed and the overweight. Now, how about focusing on foreigners?
Immigrants have fought in America's armed forces since the country first fielded one. Today, according to the most recent statistics, there are roughly 30,000 non-citizens on active duty and another 11,000 in the reserves. They come from more than 200 countries, with notable contingents from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and El Salvador. Several thousand are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. With very few exceptions, a foreign citizen must have a green card to enlist.
Recruiting non-citizens has clear benefits. Highly motivated soldiers should make dedicated and deserving Americans. And some non-citizens come equipped with useful languages. It takes over a year to teach a soldier Arabic, Pashto, or Dari from scratch. Native speakers can be deployed much more quickly.
These advantages have not gone unnoticed. In 2002 George Bush issued an executive order saying that non-citizen soldiers would in future be eligible to apply for expedited citizenship after serving one day on active duty. Previously, they had to wait several years. Since then, thousands of soldiers have been naturalised, and more than 80 have received posthumous citizenship. The armed forces have tried to bridge the language and culture gaps that can thwart recruitment. During last year's World Cup, for example, the army advertised on Arab Radio and Television.
The idea of recruiting immigrants to serve has its critics. Some argue that these soldiers would, in effect, be mercenaries. Others worry about immigrants taking risks that most Americans avoid. But maybe the current approach does not go far enough. Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations has proposed setting aside the requirement that foreigners hold a green card, and recruiting illegal immigrants as well as foreign citizens overseas. “We're looking to increase the size of our military, and this would be the most practical way to do it in the short run,” he says. And perhaps a way of tackling the immigration problem, at one fell swoop.
God bless them, everyone.
I have absolutely no problem with people getting citizenship this way. They're more deserving than the anti-American leftists that infest this country.
I think this is awesome.
I think this is very important to recognize and understand in a world-- orchestrated by the media-- which seeks to indoctrinate us into hating America. Many many people love this country so much, that they would fight and die for it.
This includes immigrants and yes many of them understand this country's values better than some citizen ingrates. I believe in America the idea.
The US Army that won the West was made up mostly of immigrants (Irish and Germans). Hell we are a nation of immigrants, I think the Europeans have a hard time understanding this.
Can't the same sentiments be expressed w/o repeating the tired 'we're a nation of immigrants' line? It wouldn't be so bad if this simplistic (and technically false) platitude was not used so often in the debate over the very complex issue of immigration. But since it is, it has become a line most often used to advance leftist views; a way to make people feel guilty for not embracing unending mass immigration and amnesty.
The truth is the truth. Our lack of control of our borders does not make it any less true. Hell most families have been in this country less than 200 years. My moms family came to the USA from Germany in the 1880's. My dads(Germany) has been here since the 1840's. When compared with European history timelines most of us have been here only for a short while. Your beef is all abour border control and our lack of it. Immigration is just a side effect of the larger question. Nothing simple about that.
We are nation of LEGAL immigrants.
Agreed, but not after "1 day" of service. Otherwise anyone who washes out of boot camp would be eligible. I would say either after completing the initial enlistment, or if wounded in combat. whichever is first. I have heard of some who have served with distinction while in combat in Iraq, yet turned out to be foreigners. I say those people have earned it.
The illegal immigration question is just a byproduct of our lack of will to control our borders. There are a lot more things than people that cross our borders illegally. It is all about national sovereignty and if we are willing to defend it.
When I say its technically untrue, I speak of the fact that most Americans are native-born, and therefore not immigrants. This has always been the case in America, unless you consider colonists and pioneers to be the same as modern day immigrants, and its definitely been the case for the United States of America.
It may be true that compared to Europe, most of us haven't been here long, but this whole descendant-based idea of a 'nation of immigrants' can be applied to virtually every nation on earth...if you want to take it far enough. The inhabitants of every nation come from a group that at some point moved to that land from another.
But again, my main point is that this platitude has been used to debase and bastardize the debate over immigration. Immigration is a very complex issue, yet no matter the complexities being discussed, you can count on someone to chime in with the pointless 'we're a nation of immigrants' line, as if it is actually an insightful point!Those who use this line are usually those arguing for amnesty, and ever greater amounts of legal immigration, though sometimes a 'hardliner' will preface his comments with this line in a futile attempt to protect himself from the inevitable name-calling. I'm not saying you fall into either category, and I admit I'm putting too much effort into nothing here, but its a pet peeve of mine, and I'd very much like it if that line were never uttered again during a debate over immigration because it adds nothing to the debate except an attempt at creating guilt.
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