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US Army Lures
Foreigners with Promise of Citizenship
By Cordula Meyer in Washington
10/22/07 "SPIEGEL" -- -- -More than 30,000 foreign troops
are enlisted in the US Army, many of them serving in Iraq. Their
reward for risking their lives for their adopted country is US
citizenship.
When Anna Maria Clarke, 26, was a teenager living in the western
German city of Mannheim, she already had a weakness for smart
uniforms, particularly on American soldiers, and for war movies
like "Full Metal Jacket." It was an attraction that Clarke, a
German citizen, felt early on and still feels today.
The parents of 25-year-old Julieta Ortiz immigrated to the
United States from Mexico City, dirt-poor but ambitious. They
worked hard picking strawberries in California, determined that
their daughter would have a better life. Four years ago, Julieta
suddenly found a way to that better life -- a difficult path,
but one that would lift her out of the poverty of her childhood.
Jose Figueira, 31, spent much of his life listening to his
father proudly recount his experiences as a soldier in the
Portuguese army. Figueira, who grew up in Massachusetts, yearned
to have something he could be just as proud of. "I wanted to
prove that I'm a good citizen, that I'm willing to stand up for
everything I love about this country."
They may have different reasons for joining the US Armed Forces,
but all three are now among the more than 30,000 foreign
soldiers fighting for America -- not as Americans, but as a
Mexican, a Portuguese and even a German. Without its foreign
soldiers, the United States would have trouble coming up with
enough troops to meet the demand in Iraq. The foreigners, for
their part, take the dangerous job mainly for its biggest
reward: US citizenship.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has granted US
citizenship to 32,500 foreign soldiers. In July 2002, US
President George W. Bush issued an executive order to expand
existing legislation to offer a fast track to citizenship to
foreigners who agree to fight for the US Armed Forces. About
8,000 non-Americans have joined the US military every year since
then.
The foreigners already represent 5 percent of all recruits. They
even make up the majority of soldiers from some New York and Los
Angeles neighborhoods. Four years and 3,800 US deaths after the
beginning of the Iraq campaign, fewer and fewer American
citizens are willing to fight in a war opposed by a majority of
the US population. But despite the Iraq war's lack of
popularity, US generals are demanding 180,000 new recruits a
year.
The Pentagon already spends $3.2 billion a year on recruitment,
even sending its recruiters to high schools to persuade
17-year-olds still a year away from graduation to enlist.
The US military learned long ago that foreign recruits are often
the most dedicated Americans. Anna Maria from Mannheim, looking
girlish with her red ponytail, had always dreamed about the US
military. She was attracted to the American soldiers living in
Germany, who seemed so relaxed about life. When she fell in
love, it was always with an American GI. Her soft spot earned
her the nickname "Ami-Anna" ("Yankee Anna"). Of course, she
married a GI. She began secretly watching her husband's fellow
soldiers doing their push-ups and sit-ups in the morning. Then
she started exercising, lost 25 kilograms (55 pounds), passed
the admission test and survived US Army boot camp in Texas.
Over 100 Germans
Now Airman First Class Clarke works in the human resources
department at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. But the
reality of the war shows up on her desk sometimes. Part of
Clarke's job is to make sure that the bodies of soldiers killed
in Iraq make it home as complete as possible.
Of course, Clarke expects to be sent to Iraq herself at any
time. She says that she would even have enlisted without the
promise of her new US citizenship, but it's important to her
nonetheless. "After all," she says, "I could be killed for this
country. It's nice to know that it's actually my country." There
are currently 128 Germans serving in the US military -- more
than from any other European country except Great Britain.
Most foreign recruits come from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Latino rights groups in the United States, fearful that
immigrants are being used as cannon fodder, object to the
somewhat shady practice of offering citizenship in return for
military service. But it happens to be a fact of life "that
immigrants always have the more difficult jobs," says military
expert Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. He is more
concerned about the fact that many US citizens are already
serving their third tours of duty at the front. Increased
recruitment of foreigners, says O'Hanlon, could help lighten the
burden.
O'Hanlon has even proposed recruiting potential new citizens for
military service in selected countries, like the Philippines or
Uganda, a proposal the Pentagon is considering.
Military recruiters have been particularly successful in
immigrant communities. "Immigrants want to prove to American
society that they are especially patriotic," says Bill Galvin of
the Center on Conscience and War, a liberal anti-war
organization. "The recruitment officers take advantage of this
and promise citizenship in return." Patriotism was a strong
motivator for Jose Figueira to join the US military. "I wanted
to prove that the Americans could trust me," he says. "I wanted
to prove that I belong here."
Sergeant Figueira, a member of the National Guard, is no
military buff. He's realized, after serving in Iraq, that the
reality of war is more than he expected. He talks about Baghdad,
about roadside bombs and snipers. He also talks about the many
hours he spent under enemy fire repairing the vehicles in his
convoy after a bomb attack. He saw soldiers being killed, and
the tears come to his eyes when he talks about the experience.
Nevertheless, he says, he would return to Iraq at any time.
It's people like Figueira who demonstrate that immigrants "are
indispensable for the military," says Margaret Stock, a lawyer
and lecturer at the legendary US Military Academy at West Point.
"They are more successful and they're less likely to give up,"
she adds. Besides, immigrants are a good investment for the
military. "You get more bang for your buck," says Stock.
It is for these reasons that the military is now deliberately
targeting immigrants for recruitment, especially those who speak
Arabic or Farsi -- but also Latinos, the largest immigrant group
in the United States. Corporal Julieta Ortiz, Mexican by birth,
joined the Marines "because I wanted to make something out of
myself and because citizenship means a lot to me." Being a US
citizen helps her advance in her career, because, as she says,
"I couldn't become an officer" as a foreigner in the US
military. She is now an architecture student and wants to work
for the government in the future. She glosses over the potential
risks of serving in Iraq. "It's worth it to me," says Ortiz.
"People with no prospects see the military as a way out of
poverty," says Jorge Mariscal, a professor of Latino Studies at
the University of California, San Diego. The uniform means money
-- money for college and money to pay bills. "Immigrants are
taken advantage of," says Bill Galvin, who is against the war
and advises soldiers in Washington who want to get out of the
military before their contracts are up. "Those who have no other
options are the most likely to end up in combat."
A US Flag, and a Certificate of Citizenship
One of them was Juan Alcantara, 22, the son of immigrants from
the Dominican Republic who grew up in New York's Washington
Heights neighborhood.
Alcantara survived his first year in Iraq, but then the recent
troop surge began and, under an executive order issued by
President Bush, Corporal Alcantara was told he would be kept on
in Iraq for another six months. He had been scheduled to return
home on June 28. His girlfriend gave birth to their daughter on
June 29. On Aug. 6, a bomb exploded while Alcantara was
searching a house in the town of Baqubah, north of Baghdad.
Alcantara was killed in the blast.
His mother, Maria, now sits in her apartment in Washington
Heights, wiping the tears from her eyes. She once told her son
that the three most important things in life are: "God, family
and your country."
She says that the army promised Juan "up to $50,000 for college,
plus a $20,000 bonus, his choice of any of 200 jobs and a
full-time position." He filled out the application on the
plastic-covered couch in her living room. The mother says that
she wept the first time her son came home in his new dress
uniform. "He was so elegant, so handsome."
She prayed when he was ordered to go to Iraq. Was Corporal Juan
Alcantara really convinced that he was defending his country?
The mother nods. She truly wants to believe all the things the
officers told her during the memorial service and at the
funeral, when they handed her a US flag, the Purple Heart, an
award for wounded soldiers -- and Juan's certificate of
citizenship. Everyone at the ceremony assured her that her son
was a hero.
Juan Alcantara is the 103rd foreign soldier to become a US
citizen posthumously -- after dying in the Iraq war. His mother
keeps the framed certificate and the letters of condolence in a
blue plastic bag.
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2007
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