Americans All
Posted by
Kevin
The first person to die in the service of this country in Operation Iraqi Freedom was an illegal alien:
Jose Gutierrez left war-torn Guatemala for a new life in the United States – and become one of his adopted country’s first two casualties in Iraq.
An orphan who grew up on the streets while Guatemala was enmeshed in civil war, he found a new family when at age 14 he traveled to the United States by train, foot and bus. He enlisted partly to thank the United States for his new life, his foster brother said.
“He joined the Marines to pay back a little of what he’d gotten from the U.S.,” Max Mosquera said. “For him it was a question of honor.”
Lance Cpl. Gutierrez, 22, was killed in ground combat Friday. On Monday, a flag hung outside the Mosqueras’ home in Lomita, 25 miles south of Los Angeles. The front porch was lined with pots of geraniums, each with a flag and a sign that read “United We Stand.”
His foster mother, Nora Mosquera, 56, displayed Gutierrez’s school and Marine certificates as she wavered between tears and happy memories. Gutierrez never forgot the sister he left behind in Guatemala and always hoped to bring her to the United States, she said.
My mom was an immigrant. She left her family and her home in Poland when she was a teenager. She spent some time with family in the Netherlands then came to the United States. At some point, I believe, she was technically illegal, having not correctly handled all of her paperwork. But she married, had two children, raised those two children despite two divorces, working bad jobs until she could earn the first of her two college degrees. She built the typical American Dream for herself — home, family, security – from nothing but her own heart and intelligence in a strange land with unfamiliar customs and a language that refuses to make any sense. Anyone who thinks that she isn’t fit to be an American, and that must include all agitate to turn others against immigrants, can go f*ck themselves.
Not terribly refined sentiments, I admit, but there is nothing but ugliness at the heart of this debate. There is no real problem with immigration, just the spin of people who should know better. The notion that immigrants represent some vanguard of a re-conquest of former Mexican territory is an idiot and worse. It is like arguing that the Irish were coming to reclaim the colonies. The only people who take those kinds of arguments seriously wear sheets on their heads, even if they are only metaphorical. It is true that immigrants do drive down wages to some small extent, but the problem is not with the people who are willing to risk their lives in order to work hard; the problem is the scum that hire them for below minimum wage in terrible conditions. Cart those people off to jail, and that problem goes away. Then there is the silly notion that they will overwhelm our culture. It is as if no one has noticed that American culture has been continuously shaped by immigrants. We take the good and mixe with what we already have to make something better. And that process has given American culture a strength and vitality that has allowed it to dominate the culture of the rest of the world.
No, immigration and immigrants are not problems. They shouldn’t go “back where they belong” because they have proven through their sacrifice, their courage, and their hard work that this is where they belong.
wow. I was pretty certain you had to be a US citizen to serve in the military.
Comment 4/12/2006
Learn something new every day:
While there is a statutory requirement that only a United States Citizen may become a commissioned officer, this is not true for enlistment. Certain non-citizens can enlist in the United States Armed Forces. To be eligible to enlist, a non-citizen must:
(1) Entered the United States on a permanent residence visa or has an Alien Registration Receipt Card (INS Form 1-551/I-551 greencard or stamped I-94), and
(2) Established a bona fide residence, and
(3) Established a home of record in the United States.
The visa and/or “greencard” must have sufficient time remaining on it (expiration date) to be valid during the entire term on enlistment. While non-citizens may enlist in the U.S. Military, they are not allowed to reenlist (stay in beyond their first term of service), unless they first become U.S. Citizens.
Comment 4/13/2006
I was in Toronto this past New Year’s, and the bartender at the hotel lounge was a Candian citizen born in Toronto, but he grew up in Dallas, Texas and was a Desert Storm veteran (for the US military — Navy, I think). It surprised me to learn that non-citizens could serve.
Comment 4/13/2006
Ted
Thanks for the info. I grew up in a military family, and I forget sometimes that not everyone will now things I learned through osmosis.
Comment 4/13/2006
Gutierrez held permanent U.S. resident status, which he obtained in 1999. He was not illegal alien when he died.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/256506.html
Comment 4/13/2006
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to this website and read
one of kevin’s articles cleverly skirting the issue - staying away from the thin ice he knows his argument will fall through. It’s really refreshing read this kind of article; it’s so uncommon.
Comment 4/17/2006