Hispanic Veterans Drawn Into Immigration Debate -"We Fought in Your Wars,"
Johnny Asia
Wars,"
"People from many different countries are fighting, not just from
Mexico," he said. "We want to participate in this country."
Hispanics are increasingly joining the military as their numbers have
grown, according to a 2004 study on Marine recruitment by CNA Corp., a
research firm in Arlington, Va. The study found Hispanics have done
exceptionally well in the Marines, with boot-camp attrition rates well
below average.
Hispanics accounted for 16.5 percent of Marine recruits last year, up
from 13.4 percent in 2002 and 11.7 percent in 1997, the firm said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060424/ap_on_re_us/immigration_military_1
Veterans Drawn Into Immigration Debate
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer
Marcial Rodriguez, a U.S. Marine who grew up in a Mexican farming
village, is offended that the country he went to war for might deport
his relatives who are living here illegally.
Three months after the lance corporal returned to Ohio from the
fighting in 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 enlisted in the Marine reserves to repay the
debt he felt owed to a country that had given him an education and a
home for his family.
"People from many different countries are fighting, not just from
Mexico," he said. "We want to participate in this country."
It is unclear how many soldiers find their loyalties similarly
divided, but at a time when
Pentagon has stepped up recruiting of Hispanics to fill recruiting
quotas, experts 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 Hispanics who do
not plan to attend college to join the military. "That's not America."
Hispanics are increasingly joining the military as their numbers have
grown, according to a 2004 study on Marine recruitment by CNA Corp., a
research firm in Arlington, Va. The study found Hispanics have done
exceptionally well in the Marines, with boot-camp attrition rates well
below average.
Hispanics accounted for 16.5 percent of Marine recruits last year, up
from 13.4 percent in 2002 and 11.7 percent in 1997, the firm said.
Soldiers and veterans have been a popular presence at a wave of
pro-immigrant rallies across the country in recent weeks. 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.
"They stick out like a sore thumb," Medina said. "When (demonstrators)
see people in uniform, it gives them tremendous pride and validates
that we are contributing to this country."
At a pro-immigration rally April 9 that drew 50,000 people in San
Diego, Hispanic veterans from World War II carried signs that read "We
Fought in Your Wars," said Jorge Mariscal, a Vietnam veteran.
"After serving our country, to see our relatives now criminalized
through this legislation is provoking a lot of people," said Mariscal,
director of Chicano studies at the University of California, San
Diego.
+
"It is even probable that the supremacy of nations
may be determined by the possession of available
petroleum and its products." - President Coolidge,
We Fight for Oil, Ludwell Denny - Alfred A Knopf, 1928
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
"Ignorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their
dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens."
- William H. Beveridge, 1944
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism
by those who have not got it." - G. B. Shaw
Want to know what's really going on in Iraq?
http://www.angelfire.com/co/COMMONSENSE/wakeup.html
The Rise and Fall of the Holy Roller Empire
The God-Awful Truth about Christian Zionism
http://www.angelfire.com/co/COMMONSENSE/armageddon.html
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107