Memorial Day came and went on May 31, and while there was much emphasis on the many American veterans of war, lost in the many media tributes were the immigrants, especially new immigrants, who have served in the U.S. military on the frontlines of the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan as green card holders and now face deportation.
As the Department of Homeland Security seeks more funding to boost its already sky-high deportation rates, forgotten it seems are the many immigrant veterans who continue to be denied U.S. citizenship after putting their lives on the line for this country.
Among them is 62-year-old Valente Valenzuela, who was wounded in Vietnam and awarded a Bronze Star for bravery. Valenzuela and his brother, who also fought in the Vietnam War, have both been ordered out of the country and back to Mexico, a country they barely remember. The two brothers have become the latest poster children for the silent epidemic that's affecting migrant veterans worse than the wars they fought in.
Then there is U.S. Marine Corps veteran Rohan Coombs, who was born in Jamaica and signed up to serve his adopted nation for six years—first in Japan and the Philippines, then in the Persian Gulf during the first war with Iraq.
But who really cares? Not many, it seems, since even Denver Memorial Day parade organizers told Valenzuela not to bring any posters focusing on this issue to their parade last Monday.
President Barack Obama, for all of his talk about support for immigration reform, also did not focus on this issue in his major Memorial Day tribute to veterans. In fact, it seems the message was clear: Kill yourselves in our defense if you want to, but we really don't have to keep you in our country.
The current presence of immigrants in the military has a number of historical precedents. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the foreign-born made up half of all military recruits by the 1840s and 20 percent of the 1.5 million service members in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Today, according to Department of Defense statistics as of May 2010, there are about 16,966 noncitizens on active duty and about 8,000 permanent residents or green card holders who enlist each year. And the DOD has proudly said the Dream Act, should it become law, will only help in its ability to harvest more young migrants to defend the United States.
The number of vets facing deportation or who have been deported is not as easily available, but they are out there and facing the uphill task. What a shame it is for a country that claims to care so much for those who served.
The pomp and circumstance that went into Memorial Day parades all across the country, including on Capitol Hill, is nothing but plain hypocrisy when immigrant veterans continue to struggle for the respect they deserve—citizenship and freedom from deportation. It is not enough to honor veterans with talk and pieces of paper and metal when they are dead. Immigrant veterans must get the true respect they deserve: to be treated like U.S. citizens and not like murderers, detained and deported.
The writer is founder of NewsAmericsNow, CaribPR Wire and Hard Beat Communications.
