Two Tours and You Could be in Trouble

Repeated tours in the Middle East are dangerous.  Most of us already know that, but the military hasn't cared.  Lets hope that Obama changes a few things.

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A Focus on Violence by Returning G.I.’s


By LIZETTE ALVAREZ and DAN FROSCH
Published: January 1, 2009
New York Times

FORT CARSON, Colo. — For the past several years, as this Army installation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains became a busy way station for soldiers cycling in and out of Iraq, the number of servicemen implicated in violent crimes has raised alarm.

Nine current or former members of Fort Carson’s Fourth Brigade Combat Team have killed someone or were charged with killings in the last three years after returning from Iraq. Five of the slayings took place last year alone. In addition, charges of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault have risen sharply.

Prodded by Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, the base commander began an investigation of the soldiers accused of homicide. An Army task force is reviewing their recruitment, medical and service records, as well as their personal histories, to determine if the military could have done something to prevent the violence. The inquiry was recently expanded to include other serious violent crimes.

Now the secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, says he is considering conducting an Army-wide review of all soldiers “involved in violent crimes since returning” from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a letter sent to Mr. Salazar in December. Mr. Geren wrote that the Fort Carson task force had yet to find a specific factor underlying the killings, but that the inquiry was continuing.

Focusing attention on soldiers charged with killings is a shift for the military, which since the start of the war in Iraq has largely deflected any suggestion that combat could be a factor in violent behavior among some returning service members...more

The hope of non-citizen soldiers

link to photo


Kendall Frederick from Randallstown, Maryland



How many young people have joined the U.S. Military so they could obtain U.S. citizenship? How many of these have been killed in Iraq?

The chunks of money given to recruits, plus the lure of citizenship lead many immigrants to the military. They have to be aware of the price as they see growing list of their comrades who have died.
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Md. mom uses son's Iraq death to help change law

By CHRISSIE THOMPSON
Washington Post

The Associated Press
Friday, June 27, 2008; 4:12 AM

RANDALLSTOWN, Md. -- U.S. Army Spc. Kendell Frederick lost his life while trying to become a citizen of the country he was fighting for. Now, his mother hopes a bill President Bush signed into law Thursday will make sure no other soldier dies the way her son did.

Frederick, a native of Trinidad who moved to the U.S. in 1999, was killed in Iraq in October 2005 when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. He was only in the convoy because he had to go to another base to get a duplicate set of fingerprints made for his U.S. citizenship application.

for complete article click here

Soriano's Father Given Reprieve on Deportation

PFC Armando Soriano died in Iraq in 2004. His father, who is undocumented has been threatened with deportation ever since his son's death. His mother was able to obtain a green card, but his father and siblings have not. Finally, Congressman Gene Greene was able to do something. Mr. Soriano has a one year reprieve.

see blog post from August 27, 2007: "ICE Still Trying to Deport Parents of Houston Soldier Killed in Iraq in 2004" from August 27, 2007

Nov. 15, 2007, 12:07AM
Dead soldier's dad gets reprieve in immigration case
Move to deport him is put on hold while House looks at bill

By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle



U.S. immigration officials have granted the father of a U.S.-born soldier killed in Iraq a reprieve from deportation while Congress considers a private bill that would give him a green card.

Enrique Soriano, an illegal immigrant and the father of Pfc. Armando Soriano, was facing deportation from Houston until U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials recently decided to grant him "deferred action," which will allow him to live and work legally in the U.S. for one year, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, a spokeswoman for USCIS.

Officials with the agency formally notified Soriano's attorney, Isaias Torres, of the reprieve by fax on Wednesday. It is effective for one year from the date of its request by the USCIS district director in Houston, meaning it will expire Sept. 10, 2008.

"It's a step forward, but it's not a long-term solution," Torres said. "At least he's not under the threat of being detained and removed anymore."

Enrique has lived with the fear that immigration agents would appear any day at his front door, decorated with a faded yellow ribbon in remembrance of his son. On Wednesday, the 47-year-old Pasadena resident said his worries have been eased.

"I can breathe a little now," Enrique said. "It gives me hope that my case is progressing."

The Soriano story has drawn widespread attention since the Houston Chronicle first reported on it in August. The family's plight highlighted the complicated issue of service members whose family members are illegal immigrants.

U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, has introduced a private bill that would grant Enrique and Armando's younger sister, Areli, legal permanent resident status. The bill, HR 3772, remains in committee. Jesse Christopherson, spokesman for Green, said they are optimistic about the bill's chances.

A private bill provides benefits to specified individuals. Immigration is one of the most common subjects of such legislation. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican in East Texas, has a private bill pending to stop the deportation of an Albanian immigrant who fears his life could be in danger if he's deported.

The House Judiciary Committee has approved a handful of private bills in recent months.

Wife granted green card
Armando was killed in Iraq in February 2004 when a military vehicle he was riding in rolled off a road, according to the Army's account of his death. The South Houston High School graduate was 20 years old. He was buried with military honors and awarded the Bronze Star posthumously.

After his death, the Soriano family benefited from an unofficial policy that gives the immediate relatives of service members who die in war the chance to become legal residents, even if they came to the U.S. illegally.

Armando's mother, Cleotilde, was approved for lawful permanent resident status. But Enrique's petition for a green card was denied.

In 1999, Enrique was formally deported after falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen, but he sneaked back across the Rio Grande to rejoin his family in Houston. Immigration officials apparently didn't know he was back in the U.S. until his green card application was filed.

His application apparently alerted U.S. immigration officials that he was in the country illegally. He was facing deportation until the recent USCIS decision to grant "deferred action."

This distinction is granted at the district and regional level of USCIS, and does not offer a chance at a green card. It does, however, allow recipients to work legally in the U.S. — at least temporarily.

Enrique spends his days working in construction. Because he was tied up with work, he couldn't visit his son's grave on Veterans Day.

So he stopped by the cemetery on Wednesday afternoon before he heard about his case and wiped down Armando's marble headstone. About two hours later, Torres called to tell him that he didn't have to leave his family any time soon.

susan.carroll@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5303236.html

Patriotism Erases Foreignness?

In 2004 Lea Ybarra published " Vietnam Veteranos" (University of Texas Press). His introduction (below) gives us a view of Latinos and the Vietnam War- and should provide some insight into Latinos and the Iraq War. Perhaps the U.S. Military believes that if the DREAM ACT is passed with the military service component - that immigrants will "give their lives" for their adopted country



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'"...In 1971 Ralph Guzmán brought the issue of race and war to the forefront and confirmed what many people in the Chicano movement had suspected. In his short but powerful article "Mexican American Casualties in Vietnam," Guzmán cites statistics that verify that Mexican American military personnel had higher death rates in Vietnam than all other ethnicities.

His analysis of casualty reports from January 1961 to February 1967 and from December 1967 to March 1969 shows that a high percentage of young men with Spanish surnames were killed in Vietnam and that a substantial number of them were involved in high-risk branches of the service, such as the U.S. Marine Corps.

Mexican Americans accounted for approximately 20 percent of U.S. casualties in Vietnam, although they made up only 10 percent of this country's population at the time.

According to Guzmán, Mexican Americans were under pressure to enlist because they had too often been considered foreigners in the land of their birth and felt they must prove their loyalty to the United States. Organizations like the GI Forum have long proclaimed the sizable contribution of the Mexican American soldier and point to impressive records of heroism in times of war. Guzmán emphasizes that there was a "concomitant number of casualties attending this Mexican American patriotic investment." There were also the desire for status that military life seemed to offer and a strong economic incentive, since many helped their families by sending money from their service allotments.

Relatively few of them avoided the draft by obtaining the college deferments available to students in the Vietnam era. Guzmán concludes: "Other factors motivate Mexican Americans to join the Armed Forces. Some may be rooted in the inherited culture of these people, while others may be imbedded in poverty and social disillusion. Whatever the real explanation, we do know that Mexican Americans are over-represented in the casualty reports from Vietnam and underrepresented in the graduating classes of our institutions of higher learning..."'

For link to Ybarra's book click title to this post

ICE Still Trying to Deport Parents of Houston Soldier Killed in Iraq in 2004

Pfc. Armando Soriano




"Din and Venom" Over Immigration Reform Overshadows Individual Cases


Armando Soriano grew up in Houston. He died in Iraq on February 1, 2004. Since then ICE has continued to process deportation proceedings against his parents, even though the U.S. government allowed Soriano's family to apply for residency after he was killed.

What kind of inconsistency creates this type of problem? The stories of Soriano and Jimenez should be broadcast everywhere. Everyone needs to know what ICE is doing - Perhaps this will mobilize us as a people to stop this brutality.

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From the Military Times:

February 1, 2004. Army Pfc. Armando Soriano, 20, of Houston; assigned to the howitzer battery, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo.; attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed while traveling in a two-vehicle convoy on a supply route Feb. 1 when weather conditions caused his vehicle to slide off the road and roll over in Haditha, Iraq.

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Respecting Our Troops
The cases of Spec. Jimenez and Pfc. Soriano
Washington Post Editorial
Sunday, August 26, 2007; Page B06


AMID THE din and venom of the debate over illegal immigration, the cases of Spec. Alex R. Jimenez of Lawrence, Mass., and Pfc. Armando Soriano of Houston deserve notice. Spec. Jimenez, of the 10th Mountain Division, disappeared in May when his Army convoy was attacked south of Baghdad. Pfc. Soriano, of the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, died three years ago when his vehicle rolled off the road in Iraq. The two men are missed and mourned by friends and family, in both cases including illegal immigrants who have faced the threat of deportation...

Pfc. Soriano, who was born in the United States, his father, a Mexican national who entered the country illegally, continues to face deportation proceedings despite the government's decision to allow Pfc. Soriano's relatives to apply for green cards following his death

Their cases are unusual but hardly unique. An estimated 68,000 active-duty military personnel were born in foreign countries, and 8,000 others enlist every year, a third of them Mexican or Central American. Nearly half of them are not citizens of the United States. Although undocumented immigrants are not legally eligible for service in the U.S. armed forces, there are numerous instances of some who used phony green cards to enlist. No one knows how many soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have relatives who lack papers, but given that 12 million such people are in the country, it is probably not insubstantial. In some parts of immigrant-rich communities like Los Angeles, large percentages of those who enlist in the military are foreign-born residents of the United States...





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this blog entry from Migra Matters

http://migramatters.blogspot.com/2007/06/good-immigrantsbad-immigrants.html




Spec. Alex Jimenez and wife Yaderlin Hiraldo

...The fate of the two other missing servicemen – Alex R. Jimenez, a 25-year-old specialist from Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Byron R. Fouty, of Waterford, Michigan, a 19-year-old private who had been in Iraq only a few weeks, - is still unknown.(1)

It's against this backdrop that we now learn that Jimenez's wife, Yaderlin, whom he married in 2004, is facing deportation.

Yaderlin Hiraldo, is a native of the Dominican Republican who first met her husband during his childhood visits to the island, but according to her attorney, Matthew Kolken, the 22 year old had entered the U.S. illegally prior to marrying him. It was when he requested a green card and legal residence status for her, that authorities were first alerted to her situation.

Despite Spec. Jimenez's status as a US citizen and active duty serviceman, the fact the Yaderlin had entered illegally meant that she would now have to return home and wait ten years before reapplying.

"I can't imagine a bigger injustice than that, to be deporting someone's wife who is fighting and possibly dying for our country," said Kolken in an interview with a local TV.

An immigration judge has put a temporary stop to the proceedings since Spec. Jimenez was reported missing. The soldier's wife is now living with family members in Pennsylvania...

Photo of Jimenez from Migra Matters

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For complete Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/25/AR2007082501039.html?st=immigration&fn=&sfn=&sa=np&cp=2&hl=false&sb=-1&sd=&ed=&blt=

Photo of Soriano: http://soldiersangels.homestead.com/files/c5co-soldier_d.jpg&imgrefurl=http://soldiersangels.homestead.com/files/2004_02_01_archive.html&h=207&w=140&sz=7&hl=en&start=1&sig2=FT16_uDMMPKmFhf5jP8Ncw&um=1&tbnid=pRt9DzbAvixT-M:&tbnh=105&tbnw=71&ei=-7zSRp2XB4TAgQPvsNyTCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darmando%2Bsoriano%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

DREAM ACT and the Military

http://www.epic-usa.org/_pics/_photos/soldier-takes-cover-Baghdad-AP-Victor-Caivano.jpg


Immigration Prof Blog published this open letter from Fernandez Suarez de Solar- Founder/Director Guerrero Azteca Project: http://www.guerreroazteca.org/ Mr. Suarez Solar has become an outspoken peace activist since the death of his son in Iraq.

An Open Letter to Latino and Latina students and all leaders of immigrant rights organizations
By Fernando Suárez Del Solar
August 5, 2007

In the wake of the failed immigration reform, passionate discussions have arisen among various organizations both for and against the DREAM Act.

It gives me great joy to see students taking non-violent action to find a solution to the immigration question. Many of them came to the United States as children and have finished their high school education. Now, because they lack legal documents, they face an uncertain future that may deny them the opportunity to attend college or find a decent job. The DREAM Act offers them a light at the end of an otherwise dark and uncertain road.

I see students on fasts, in marches, lobbying elected officials, all in the name of the DREAM Act's passage. But BEWARE. Be very careful. Because our honorable youth with their dreams and wishes to serve their new country are being tricked and manipulated in an immoral and criminal way.

Why do I say this? Simply put, the DREAM Act proposes two years of college as a pathway to permanent residency but it also includes a second option linked to the so-called war on terror-"two years of military service." Our young people may not see that this is a covert draft in which thousands of youth from Latino families will be sent to Iraq or some other war torn nation where they will have to surrender their moral values and become a war criminal or perhaps return home in black bags on their way to a tomb drenched with their parents' tears.

How many of our youth can afford college? How many will be able to take the educational option? Unfortunately very few because the existing system locks out the children of working families with high tuition and inflated admissions criteria. Most will be forced to take the military option to get their green card. But what good is a green card to a dead person? What good is a green card to a young person severely wounded in mind and body?

I ask our undocumented youth to read the following passages regarding the plans of the Pentagon and the Bush administration:

In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 10, 2006, Under Secretary of Defense David Chu said: "According to an April 2006 study from the National Immigration Law Center, there are an estimated 50,000 to 65,000 undocumented alien young adults who entered the U.S. at an early age and graduate from high school each year, many of whom are bright, energetic and potentially interested in military service...Provisions of S. 2611, such as the DREAM Act, would provide these young people the opportunity of serving the United States in uniform."

More recently, Lt. Col. Margaret Stock of the U.S. Army Reserve and a faculty member at West Point told a reporter that the DREAM Act could help recruiters meet their goals by providing a "highly qualified cohort of young people" without the unknown personal details that would accompany foreign recruits. "They are already going to come vetted by Homeland Security. They will already have graduated from high school," she said. "They are prime candidates."
(Citations from research by Prof. Jorge Mariscal, UC San Diego)

As you can see, our undocumented youth are being targeted by military recruiters. And equally important is something that few people have mentioned-there is no such thing as a two year military contract. Every enlistment is a total of eight years.
Given these facts, I invite all young people who are filled with hope and dreams and energy to fight for human rights and for a fair pathway to legalization. But they must also demand that the military option of the DREAM Act be replaced by a community service option (as appeared in earlier drafts of the legislation) so that community service or college become the two pathways to permanent residency. Only then will they avoid becoming victimized by a criminal war as my son Jesús Alberto did when he died on March 27, 2003 after stepping on an illegal U.S. cluster bomb. Through education or community service our undocumented youth can contribute to their communities and their future will be filled with peace and justice.

Fernando Suarez del Solar

Bad Idea: Iraq, the Dream Act and the Military

"Do we continue to send our kids in the middle of a meat grinder based on a policy that is fundamentally flawed?" -- Joe Biden, July 10, 2007

With Iraq still in the Equation, Its a Bad Idea
The Iraq Bill that would have contained the Dream Act stalled again in the Senate last week. It doesn't look like our lawmakers want to stand up to the administration and the Republican Party. This is a dangerous position, combining the Dream Act with the military bill is unfair to students who cannot go to college.

Joe Biden's speech in the Senate tells of what could happen if the DREAM Act is passed as part of the Military Bill while we are still in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EU7YA-VDSc

I realize that I wrote endorsing the the DREAM Act being tied to the military bill in previous posts. During NON-WARTIME - it can be a reasonable option. But now, especially after seeing our President continue to throw away lives in a illogical "surge" and our Senate being too afraid to stop this insanity, it looks like a very deadly idea.

The DREAM Act and the Military

Macario Garcia receiving his Congressional Medal of Honor from President Truman. 1945.






Many people had to pressure Ken Burns to include soldiers of Mexican descent in his upcoming series on World War II - Apparently he didn't know about Macario Garcia and many Latino military heroes. There have been a number of immigrant soldiers who brought honor to their units during World War II and later (my father and uncle were two of them).

Macario Garcia was one of the most important soldiers of WWII. He was an immigrant (who probably came without documents) from northern Mexico and came to Texas with his family when he was ten. He lived near Sugar Land, Texas and joined the U.S. Army in 1943. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945 for extreme valor during a campaign in the Hurtegen Forest in Germany..

As our senators consider joining the DREAM ACT to a military bill, perhaps they can think of Macario Garcia... immigrants make great soldiers --


Now - I would rather young immigrants all go to college... but the military is also honorable- if the Congress decides to pull out our troops from Iraq, new recruits will not be in so much danger...

ADDENDUM: see post of July 24, 2007
Dream and and the Military- with Iraq still in the Equation, Its a Bad Idea

The Iraq Bill that would have contained the Dream Act stalled again in the Senate. It doesn't look like our lawmakers want to stand up to the administration and the Republican Party. With this dangerous position (or lack of) combining the Dream Act with the military bill is unfair to students who cannot go to college.

Immigrant Soldiers?

From the Washington Post:

NON-CITIZEN SOLDIERS
Why Won't We Let Them Fill the Ranks?
By Brigid Schulte
Sunday, June 3, 2007; Page B01




"...Jonathan doesn't feel foreign. He feels American.

He is one of an estimated 750,000 undocumented youths of military age living in the United States, a small portion of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who are at the heart of the contentious debate in Congress on immigration reform. The proposed legislation includes provisions of the Dream Act, a bill knocking around the Hill since 2001 that would create a path to a green card and citizenship for any undocumented youths who were brought to the United States before they were 16, have lived here for five years and either attend college or serve honorably in the military for at least two years. The bill would allow youths without proper documentation to circumvent current military regulations that open doors only to those with green cards..."

for complete article:
'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060101854.html

*The Migration Policy Institute published a report in October 2006 stating there are approximately 360,000 non-status young people in the U.S. that are eligible for the Dream Act.