Posted on 04/18/2014 2:55:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
San Lorenzo man serves in military, works a lifetime -- "illegally."
It took Lee Smith quite some time to find out that he wasn't a U.S. citizen.
During which time he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and lived and worked in the Bay Area for nearly 44 years.
Smith, 65, a retired sheet metal fabricator, discovered he wasn't a citizen upon turning 65 and trying -- and failing -- to collect his Social Security benefits, according to The Daily Review.
He joined the Army in 1969 and took the oath of citizenship -- a requirement for him to be sent to Vietnam as he requested -- and received a Social Security number.
Somehow, Smith -- who "never tried to vote" -- was never quite made a citizen, despite a listing on his discharge papers clearly listing him as such, the newspaper reported.
The "error" was fixed recently when Smith, who was born in Switzerland but lived in the U.S. since he was 9, took the oath of citizenship at U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell's office, the newspaper reported.
He'll reapply for his benefits after taking the oath for a second time.
This is the sort of person who SHOULD get amnesty.
I wouldn’t call it amnesty. He took the oath and had no reason to believe he wasn’t a citizen. He should have been a citizen, even if some bureaucrat made a mistake.
You need to be a citizen for Social Security?
I was issued some stuff when I joined the military but a social security number wasn’t one of them.
Not foreigners of color, certain religions, and Hispanics. All others must go through the proper procedures to collect SS, vote, receive welfare benefits, etc..
Yeah but that didn't stop him. What do you figure he's been voting dem for 44 years, never missing an election. Dog probably votes too.
"Smith"... Doesn't sound ethnic. Been paying into SS for over four decades but lo and befold the vigilant government is right on top of things and found a glitch.
If his name were Jose Pedro Jesus he wouldn't have needed to bother about the work or the citizenship...
You hate veterans?
Just because he never voted, doesn't mean he never voted. Dem of course. His SS was denied/delayed because the bureaucrats said he wasn't a citizen, but I doubt they'd deny a non-citizen his ballot (or two or three). And they'd be happy to give that SS over to actual interlopers.
But what evidence do you have of that? So you are basically saying that all veterans are liars who exclusively vote for democrats?
But what evidence do you have of that? So you are basically saying that all veterans are liars who exclusively vote for democrats?
He had no knowledge he wasn’t a citizen, so, if he wanted to vote, he could have voted without doing it fraudulently?
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For FReeps' sake, get some rest.
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