Doing my job as a college professor and a mental health clinician, I meet veterans who must deal with a lot of stressful situations. One situation I struggle with is why non-citizen, honorably discharged military veterans don’t automatically get US citizenship. Franco is one of those cases. Franco is a good, hard working guy who everyone treats with respect; those who know him understand his situation, and those who don’t know him would never know what he is dealing with. Franco served eight years as a corpsman in the Navy and had two tours in Iraq, both attached to Marine units. Franco saw heavy combat and plenty of carnage during his tours. His two tours have affected him the way they affect many of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Franco saved many lives and patched up many Marines. All of us who know him love to pick on him because he was in the Navy and tries to act like a Marine. Even though he was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he has not gotten a service-connected disability rating yet. While struggling with his PTSD and battling the Veterans Affairs (VA), he is also struggling to become a US citizen.
Franco is legal in the US and has a green card. He has been in the United States since he was four years old but struggles with the process of getting his US citizenship for fear of being deported like other non-citizen military veterans. This young man has fought for this country and should have a direct line to citizenship. He is not alone; there are many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who are not American citizens. I feel this is a slap in the face to those who have served alongside Franco and is an archaic rule. This should be a no-brainer; Franco has earned his citizenship. Our government should fast-track military members and veterans to citizenship who are not US citizens. Where serving in the US armed forces has recently been made available for illegal aliens, we still have plenty of veterans who are here legally but still aren't citizens. I have asked Franco a couple of times about starting the citizenship process. He tells me he keeps looking into it but doesn't quite feel safe letting the government know about his situation. Franco has seen cases where non-citizen military veterans have been deported back to their "home country" because of their situation, situations like Franco’s, or minor legal infractions. Franco describes feeling safer just laying low and doing his own thing. Like so many military veterans, Franco does not trust the government.
Franco discussed with me how a group of Hispanic American veterans in Mexico have united and even opened an office to help deported American military veterans come back to the US. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are approximately 60 American military veterans living in Tijuana, with another 179 American military veterans living in 34 countries. These veterans discussed how they missed their families and their homes. Some of these veterans were convicted of minor crimes after they were honorably discharged and deported after serving jail time for their minor infractions. Often times, those infractions are caused by issues that happened due to their service, such as drug use and possession, DUIs, and self-medicating for their PTSD. If these veterans had been granted citizenship while serving in the military, they would have never been deported. They were sent back to a country they left as children and cannot get their VA benefits because they are in another country and not allowed to enter the United States because they were deported.
To me, it makes no sense why our government and society choose not to give non-citizens who are serving in the military or military veterans head of line privileges for their service. Why aren’t non-citizen military members forced to get their citizenship while in the military? Our veterans, like Franco, and those serving in the military deserve their citizenship if they want it. They have done what so many US citizens have failed to do, join the military to fight for our country.
For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.