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Immigrant Soldiers Offer Valuable Benefits To Military

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 17, 2008

TAMPA - Even through he wasn't a U.S. citizen, having moved here when he was 7 from Mexico, Arturo Huerta-Cruz offered up his life for this country.

The 23-year-old Clearwater man who played soccer at Countryside High School loved it here, relatives said. He was killed Monday in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded while he was on patrol near Tuz, about 100 miles north of Baghdad.

In spite of the government making it easier for non-citizens enlisted to become citizens, none of that entered Huerta-Cruz's mind when he decided to join.

"He was going to become a U.S. citizen this year anyway," said Roger Cruz, the fallen soldier's cousin. "He didn't enlist because of that.

"He wanted to experience something else," Cruz said. "He wanted to find out what the army was. He enlisted because of what he believed in. He believed in democracy and that's what he wanted to die for, our freedom."

Huerta-Cruz became the second Bay area immigrant soldier killed in action in Iraq. Kevin Waruinge was just 22 when he was killed on Aug. 3, 2005. Waruinge was working on obtaining his citizenship when a bomb hit his vehicle near Haditha, Iraq. While he was overseas, his parents and two younger brothers became citizens. They had come here from Kenya in 1997.

Military analysts say that non-citizens make up about 7 percent of the U.S. military, the largest nationality being from Mexico. About 39,000 immigrants are in active military service, the National Guard and reserves.

Many joined up to take advantage of a government program implemented in 2002 that makes it easier for them and their families to obtain citizenship. And since then, dozens of non-citizen soldiers killed in action have been granted posthumous citizenship, which opens the door for their green card-holding relatives here to get their citizenships more quickly.

Non-citizens serving in the military are not a recent phenomenon. Foreign nationals fought the British in the Continental Army and have served in just about every war and conflict since. According to CNA, a nonprofit research group that does analytical work for the government, more than 660,000 non-citizens have been granted citizenship over the past 146 years because of their military service.

In a 138-page, 2005 report on non-citizens in the military, CNA analysts concluded that, "Non-citizen-service members offer several benefits to the military. First, they are more diverse than citizen recruits - not just racially and ethnically - but also linguistically and culturally. This diversity is particularly valuable as the United States faces the challenges of the global war on terrorism."

With the war in Iraq becoming less and less popular, military enlistment has dropped, and recruiters are struggling to meet their goals. Recruitment of green card residents is a way to keep the numbers up and avoid having to go to a draft. It's beneficial to both sides, with expedited citizenship as a lure.

The CNA study also found that non-citizen service members have used their enlistment to help get their dependent children naturalized and sponsor family members living outside the country.

Kevin R. Johnson, a professor of public interest law and Chicana/o studies at the University of California at Davis and noted author on immigration issues said non-citizen soldiers can make the military stronger, and not just by adding to the numbers.

"The military gains by having eager, enthusiastic immigrants serving in the ranks," he said. "One of things people don't realize is that many immigrants are hyper-patriotic. They come from a place where the freedoms they have here are not available where they came from."

And soldiers don't typically care who is next to them on the battlefield, as long as that person is competent.

"One of good things about the military is its sense of community and camaraderie that crosses racial, class and social lines," he said. "They think of themselves as soldiers, not immigrant soldiers."

While the Navy counts the highest number of non-citizens among its ranks, the Army and Air Force have the fewest.

U.S. Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said non-citizen enlistment surged at the end of 2001 and during 2002 and continued to grow until 2004. Then, inexplicably, it began to tail off in 2005.

In the years after Sept. 11, 2001, non-citizens made up between 4.4 percent and 4.9 percent of the Army's enlistment, he said.

That may have been due to the patriotic fervor stirred up by the terrorist attacks along with the president's proclamation in 2002 to expedite citizenship procedures for non-citizens in the military.

In 2003, Army enlistment of immigrant soldiers on active duty was 4.9 percent, he said, or nearly 4,000 soldiers.

Then, unexplainably, it dropped off.

Non-citizen soldiers in 2005 dropped to 2,500, making up just 3.4 percent, Smith said. It has dropped each year since to 2,322 last year, or 2.9 percent.

The enlistment trends are mirrored in the reserves as well, he said.

"We have no official idea why it dropped," he said.

The non-citizen trend went along with overall enlistment numbers, in that there was a surge from 2002 through 2004 and then a drop in 2005. But since then, as non-citizen enlistment fell, overall recruitment has held its ground, he said.

"In 2005, we didn't meet our goals," in overall recruitment, he said, "but from 2006 forward, we've been consistently successful."

The military does what it can to enlist qualified fighting men and women, whether they are citizens or not, he said. But there are some restrictions placed on non-citizen recruits.

Only non-citizens with green cards who live in the country permanently are eligible to enlist. Like their citizen counterparts, immigrant recruits have to be at least 18 years old, or 17 if they have their parents' permission.

Non-citizens can only serve one tour, unless they become citizens during that time, and they are not eligible for military jobs that require high-level security clearances, said Smith from his Fort Knox, Ky., office.

Retired Army Lt. Col. George K. Smith, who lives in Oldsmar, has seen his share of immigrant soldiers during his 23 years of service.

He said that citizenship is a great recruiting tool.

Troops don't delineate who is a citizen and who is not when they are on the battlefield, he said. And proper training takes care of any differences between citizens and non-citizens as far as combat capabilities go.

"Individuals serving in our armed services now are all volunteers," he said. "In my day, we were good, but these young men and women today far exceed what we were. They are smarter, better educated and more devoted to serving this country."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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