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Articles: Military Recruiting: Youth of Color

Immigrants joining U.S. military to gain citizenship

Angela Kocherga, KENS 5 Border Bureau

July 19, 2007

The number of people becoming U.S. citizens has soared recently.
Now, many are even fighting for the chance to become an American, by joining the U.S. military.
Recently, a massive citizenship ceremony in El Paso included nearly 900 immigrants from 35 countries.
Some had clearly waited a long time for this day, while others had already proved their loyalty to the United States — they were soldiers before they were citizens.
"It's a way of paying back," new citizen Cesar Martinez said.
Martinez and Corina Gonzalez are both from Mexico, and both are in the U.S. military.
"I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and from there, I got deployed to Balad, Iraq," Gonzalez said.
Immigrants in the military got front row seats at the ceremony.
"I feel overwhelmed, overwhelmed," said Elisha Howell, a new U.S. citizen who is from Jamaica.
On this day, America embraced its immigrants, but it's the angry debate over immigration reform that's responsible in part for the surge in citizenship applications.
Experts predict the trend will only grow especially in the coming year, because many of these immigrants turned citizens are hoping to get sworn in time to cast their first vote for president.

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