Iraq War Veterans Face Deportation
Military Falsely Promises Automatic U.S. Citizenship
Take the case of Orlando Castanea. Brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents at the age of three, Castanea grew up in America. As an adult, he joined the U.S. Army and spent 12 months fighting in Iraq. He was told that his military service would secure his application for citizenship. Then, only months after returning from Iraq, Castanea received a deportation letter.
Castanea is not alone. Marine Corporal Phillipe Louis Jean also faced the threat of deportation after serving in Iraq. Louis Jean had previously been court-martialed for adultery, but the minor infraction was not serious enough to prevent the Marine Corps from sending him to serve in Iraq. Upon his return, however, it was apparently serious enough to threaten him with deportation. Though his case was dismissed on a technicality, Louis Jean will never be able to attain citizenship because of that court-martial, regardless of his brave service to America.
Jan A. Ruhman, a Veterans activist, has taken it upon herself to fight on behalf of veterans who are threatened with deportation. Apparently, Iraq War Veterans are not the only ones being faced with this travesty. Ruhman was first alerted to the problem by the story of a U.S. Marine Corps Gulf War I combat veteran. Since then, she has discovered that veterans of even earlier wars have been faced with deportation proceedings, many of them being forced to leave the country permanently. According to Ruhman, over 3,000 veterans are currently incarcerated and under threat of deportation nation wide.
Many veterans that Ruhman and her colleagues interviewed claimed that automatic U.S. Citizenship was promised to them by recruitment officers in return for service. In reality, non-citizens who serve in the military must still apply for citizenship. However, many veterans who did submit applications were left by the wayside, as their applications did not follow them once they were deployed to a combat zone.
For more information on this issue, please visit:
Jan A. Ruhman. "American Combat Veterans Facing Deportation." vetspeakblog.blogspot.com
KPFA Radio. "When I Got Back From Iraq, They Tried to Deport Me." www.warcomeshome.org
Live Leak. "Iraq Vet Being Deported." liveleak.com
Published by Karen Scamman
Karen Scamman grew up mostly in northern California, and now lives in San Diego as a college student and aspiring teacher. View profile
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21 Comments
Post a Commentgreat job! Hugz CJ
"Jan" Ruhman is a Marine who served in Vietnam from '65 to '70. "He" also is Southern California's VVAW Leader, VFP San Diego Hugh Thompson Chapter 91 VP and aka the "banner man"!
How atrocious. The injustice is to all involved. The recruiters are committing suicide bc of the pressure on them to recruit, plus the veteran ptsd experience. The immigrants absolutely shd be more than thanked for their service. Deportations should be stopped immediately. The victims of war, the list goes on. Very sad. Must change. Nice article Karen Scamman.
ALSO...all I hear is "WE ELECTED THEM, WE VOTED THEM IN ?" WE DID NOT! The ULTIMATE VIOLATION OF OUR CONSTITUTION! POLITICIANS ARE SELECTED W/ RIGGED ELECTIONS have been for DECADES! THEY ARE PLACED IN OFFICE TO DO THE BIDDING OF THE CORPORATE ELITES! FACT! PROVEN! YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED! WAKE UP!
Ya know...all of you need to read a HISTORY BOOK or twenty!!!! AND you can only find them at a college library, maybe stop by & ask for suggestions from the HISTORY Dept? BECAUSE Our USA MILITARY are nothing but PAWNS in the ELITISTS KILLING GAME. THIS has been the goal of the Globalists since the beginning of time, to control ALL Nations of this Planet, and USE the citizenry to do their murderous bidding? AND MEN & WOMEN across the Globe line up to rob & pillage Foreign Lands for their Natural Resources, killing for the enormous PROFITS OF THE GOVERNMENT. AND WE THE PEOPLE ARE SENT THE BILL? We call this ADVANCEMENT? I CALL IT MURDER ROBBERY AND GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET!ARE THERE NO MEN OF GOOD CONSCIENCE? There had better be CAUSE THEY ARE COMING FOR THOSE ON American SOIL NEXT! HEIL HITLER! HAIL CAESAR! AMERICA!
John, as a recruiter, you wanted the numbers. Stop your lying and bigotry. Some of you should never have been in the military. You went in because you were white, male, and 21. You are the one cheating the taxpayer.
as a former Marine who served with destinction, i can attest to the fact that not everybody is going to represent the facts, when they are in need to meet their cuota but i do not believe that a recruiter would commit fraud against the Fed. Gov.... you never know
I am a soldier who served in OIF 2004-2005. I didn't go anywhere to kill anyone but terrorist came here with a passport and killed. The US took the fight to there part of the world I didn't agree with invading iraq but I was told to go by my country because Bush was elected by the people of this country the people I serve but these guys don't have it any worse than me. I didn't even have a home when I returned. My ex-wife didn't allow me to come home. We had lived together for six years Before I got orders to serve in Iraqi. We had a four year old daughter and she was pregant with our second child. I didn't even know about it until after I shipped out for training. So we got married in the parking lot of my barracks. I did not want to get killed in Iraqi and my family not be taken care of. Well what I didn't think about was getting injured or PTSD. I almost lost my life twice in war. When I got back I wished that I had died there. At least I could have died in honor. I came home to n
As a previous Army Recruiter I can tell you that these men committed a felony act to join the military. They not only lied to the US government but provided false documentation. They should be deported. How can we truts these people. Going to Iraq has nothing to do with proving yourself, it just part of serving in the military.
Ralph and John, I understand and agree to an extent with your comments. I don't agree with the war in Iraq, but at the same time, I don't blame the men and women who aren't in a position of command. Yes, there are times they do bad things that deserve recrimination (Abu Ghraib for instance), but for the most part the fault lies with the decision makers. It's still reprehensible that these people who have risked their lives and good health on behalf of our country (well intentioned if not with good results) are being led to believe falsehoods and then deported for minor crimes.