thedrifter
04-25-06, 08:14 AM
Bill could divide loyalties of immigrant U.S. troops
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Elliot Spagat
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcial Rodriguez, a U.S. Marine who grew up in a Mexican village, is offended that the country he fought for might deport those of his relatives who are living here illegally.
Three months after the lance corporal returned to Ohio from Iraq, the U.S. House adopted a bill that would make Rodriguez’s cousin a felon for being one of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.
Rodriguez, 20, said he joined the Marine reserves to repay the debt he felt owed to a country that had given him an education and a home. "We want to participate in this country."
It is unclear how many soldiers find their loyalties similarly divided, but at a time when the Pentagon has stepped up recruiting of Latinos to fill recruiting quotas, leaders say a crackdown on illegal immigration would undoubtedly cause resentment in the ranks.
"How do you tell them we’re going to deport their parents and grandparents?" asked Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a group that has encouraged Latinos who do not attend college to join the military. "That’s not America."
Latinos are increasingly joining the Marines as their numbers have grown, according to a study in 2004 on recruitment by researchers in Arlington, Va.
Latinos accounted for 16.5 percent of Marine recruits that year, up from 13.4 percent in 2002 and 11.7 percent in 1997, the study said.
Soldiers and veterans have been a popular presence at a wave of pro-immigrant rallies across the country. In Houston, speakers at a rally this month repeatedly pointed to people in uniform on a nearby bridge, and they received roaring applause, said Eliseo Medina, a top official of the Service Employees International Union.
Rodriguez enlisted in 2004 after graduating from high school in Painesville. Nine months later, he was fighting in Iraq near the Syrian border.
His father, Ernesto Rodriguez, crossed illegally into the United States in 1976 after deciding that he could not support a family in Mexico. The elder Rodriguez, now 47, became a permanent resident in 1986 under a law that gave legal status to 2.6 million immigrants. He and his family moved to Ohio in 1998.
Marcial’s cousin Eli illegally crossed the border in 1999.
"I want to join the military, but I can’t. This country has given me a lot," Eli said. "I would like to serve."
Ellie
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Elliot Spagat
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcial Rodriguez, a U.S. Marine who grew up in a Mexican village, is offended that the country he fought for might deport those of his relatives who are living here illegally.
Three months after the lance corporal returned to Ohio from Iraq, the U.S. House adopted a bill that would make Rodriguez’s cousin a felon for being one of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.
Rodriguez, 20, said he joined the Marine reserves to repay the debt he felt owed to a country that had given him an education and a home. "We want to participate in this country."
It is unclear how many soldiers find their loyalties similarly divided, but at a time when the Pentagon has stepped up recruiting of Latinos to fill recruiting quotas, leaders say a crackdown on illegal immigration would undoubtedly cause resentment in the ranks.
"How do you tell them we’re going to deport their parents and grandparents?" asked Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a group that has encouraged Latinos who do not attend college to join the military. "That’s not America."
Latinos are increasingly joining the Marines as their numbers have grown, according to a study in 2004 on recruitment by researchers in Arlington, Va.
Latinos accounted for 16.5 percent of Marine recruits that year, up from 13.4 percent in 2002 and 11.7 percent in 1997, the study said.
Soldiers and veterans have been a popular presence at a wave of pro-immigrant rallies across the country. In Houston, speakers at a rally this month repeatedly pointed to people in uniform on a nearby bridge, and they received roaring applause, said Eliseo Medina, a top official of the Service Employees International Union.
Rodriguez enlisted in 2004 after graduating from high school in Painesville. Nine months later, he was fighting in Iraq near the Syrian border.
His father, Ernesto Rodriguez, crossed illegally into the United States in 1976 after deciding that he could not support a family in Mexico. The elder Rodriguez, now 47, became a permanent resident in 1986 under a law that gave legal status to 2.6 million immigrants. He and his family moved to Ohio in 1998.
Marcial’s cousin Eli illegally crossed the border in 1999.
"I want to join the military, but I can’t. This country has given me a lot," Eli said. "I would like to serve."
Ellie