Irish and Mexicans Need Not Apply

"Would we desert you now,

Flag of the Free;

When we a solemn vow,

Flag of the Free;

You from all harm to save,

Made when we crossed the wave,

And you a welcome gave,

Flag of the Free?"

The Irish-American's Song, 1864

In the dark days of the American Civil War, when the very existence of the Union was in question, help came from those new immigrants -- mainly Irish and German -- who answered the call to arms when many native-born citizens found better things to do or paid others to fight for them. The Irish, who began to pour into the United States in the 1840s, were specifically targeted as somewhat less-than-human -- signs saying "No Dogs or Irish Allowed," were common in America's largest cities. My own great-great-grandfather was driven out of Tennessee in 1860 due to his "Irishness" and his abhorrence of slavery. He did what many of his fellow Paddys (and yes, his name was Patrick) did. He joined the Union Army and fought for the country that had rejected him.

I had the honor, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to serve with one of the finest soldiers I ever knew. Raul was a first-rate soldier, and our company clerk. He had a family -- a wife and two small children -- that he supported on his meager salary as a Specialist (for those unfamiliar with the rank, it is between Private First Class and Sergeant; the same rank as a Corporal in the combat arms). When his buddies were out drinking at night, he was attending night school, trying to get an associates degree.

And Raul, as he admitted to me in a blown up building in Panama, was an illegal alien. As a young teenager, he slipped across the border from Mexico, literally swimming the Rio Grande to cross into Texas. After obtaining documentation -- and I never asked if it was real or fake -- he got himself into high school in Texas. Keep in mind, this is a 14- or 15-year-old kid without family enrolling himself in high school in a foreign country. He finished high school, and immediately enlisted in the Army. I met him a couple of years into his first tour.

I went to war with Raul when the United States invaded Panama. In that country, he, I, and two other fellows cleared a building full of Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) troops, without firing a shot. As a native Spanish speaker, Raul talked the PDF troops into surrendering. It was amazing and effective. Raul and I would walk the streets of Panama City doing police duty, he translating for his "gringo" lieutenant. After we came back home, I talked him into reenlisting for another tour, this time as a military policeman. He left the unit, and we all went to Desert Storm a month later. I lost track of him after that.

I served my country for 26 years. I was born in Arkansas and I am not an immigrant.

But I get angry when I see the anti-immigrant propaganda being spewed by self-styled "Americans" on television and talk radio. I find it infuriating when I see and hear "illegal aliens" being used as de facto serfs by "good Americans" -- most of whom have never had to do real physical labor in their entire lives. But the real insult is when politicians and pundits, many of whom have never served a day in uniform, and whose children are far too precious to send to the wars they start, cannot recognize the fact that immigrants -- documented and undocumented--are more than willing to serve this nation if given the opportunity.

Currently, there is an expedited process for naturalization of veterans and serving military personnel, under INA Section 328 and 329 (328 is the peacetime service exemption, 329 is the wartime service exemption). In general, if an immigrant serves honorably in wartime, even for a single day, they are allowed to apply for citizenship. While this does greatly speed the process, it is not enough. Service itself should bestow citizenship, not "moral character," "English proficiency" and "Knowledge of Civics" tests. Three years of honorable service in peacetime and any service in wartime should result in automatic citizenship for both the service member and their immediate families. Combat wounded and medically discharged personnel should have the same automatic citizenship.

The United States should actively recruit foreign nationals who wish to serve. My own great uncle, a U.S. citizen eager to fight against Hitler, slipped across the Canadian border in 1940 at the ripe age of 17 and enlisted in the Canadian Army before the United States entered the war. France, through its Foreign Legion, has long allowed foreigners to gain citizenship with service. There is no logical reason why the United States cannot do the same. Not just Latino immigrants should be recruited. Enlist those from the Middle East, especially Iraq and Afghanistan, who have already served alongside U.S. troops. Their knowledge of the culture, sensitivity and regional expertise to the U.S. military would be invaluable. Linguists who are native speakers, civil affairs officers who understand exact tribal and local needs and norms would be priceless. No "Foreign Legion" should be considered, however. These men and women who are willing to serve must be integrated into a multi-cultural, multi-gendered, democratic and merit-based military.

To encourage service and duty; the "dirty Irish" of the Civil War were good enough to die for the Union while their "betters" bought substitutes to fight in their place. After the Golgotha of Fredericksburg in 1862, the signs "No dogs or Irish Allowed" began to disappear from taverns and inns. Perhaps, by their sacrifice, the new immigrants, regardless of their home country, will be rewarded with the same. They deserve citizenship -- now, immediately, without hesitation or government red tape -- more than the children of privilege whose fathers start wars but do not send their dear, darling children to fight, who would rather see their daughter's wedding photos in the society section of the paper than in the list of the dead in the A Section. Whose fathers instead berate and inflame their fellow citizens to pass laws further restricting immigration, who use the news media to spread fear and hatred of the very people who are defending them on faraway battlefields where they have been sent to fight by the very demagogues who belittle them and their families.

Perhaps it is time that we truly appreciate the service of immigrants who want nothing more than to give their families a decent future and are willing to put their lives in jeopardy to achieve that dream.

"Are we now cowards grown,

Flag of the Free?

Would we now disown,

Flag of the Free?

You to whose folds we fled;

You in whose cause we bled,

Bearing you at our head,

Flag of the Free?"

Comments

[jvarga]

Wow, I guess someone isn't a fan of starship troopers.

[Berettasskeeter]

I haven't seen any anti-immigrant ranting anywhere. Can you give concrete examples if this? I have seen anti-illegal immigrant ranting though.
Semper fi

[AzRealProgressive]

Ranting is pretty much confined to those that came here illegally. Legal immigrants are all good for the most part.

[clr2]

All ILLEGAL ALIENS no matter where they come from should be deported. People can come her LEGALLY. We are spending BILLIONS on people who don't belong here - we need to use that money on our own citizens.

[AzRealProgressive]

Some will disagree with that, but there is an ugly truth in what you say.

[JC1c1]

MJC

It wasnt too long ago that a woman in America had no rights. If her husband chose to beat her, rape her, there wasnt much she could do about it. My point being that almost every American has been judged on their gender, race, sexual orientation, and religion. Even white people. Trust me growing up I heard the term white trash all the time. Nice calling a kid trash.

But I do have to agree that any kind of hatred I recieved was minimum at best to what Native Americans and African Americans have gotten in this country. Is it getting better? I think so, generation by generation. It is gone? Far from it.

As far as illegal immigrants, I think if I were in their position I would do the same. If I had a family to support and couldnt do that in my own country, and I saw that a better life was across the border, I would do it.

I do think however that in gaining citizenship the ones who have waited years legally should come first. As long as you have no record I see no problem, as far as Illegal immigrants joining the military, I say great, what better way to show your love of this country, that you are willing to do this. I also believe there should be no question that by doing so, they should become US citizens.

[luvobama]

I like you. Thank you. What you said, was brilliant. Everyone should read it.

[Badbone]

If they want to serve this country, that is great. But why is it so difficult for them to do so legally? It is really asking a great deal of them that they follow the rules of a country they purport to love so much?

Tell you what I am going to do. I love learning. So, I’m going to go to Harvard. Now, I’m not going to go through the admissions process or apply or anything. I’m just going to go to classes. Because I love learning so much. Should I really have to go through all that bureaucracy? Why don’t I just sneak in, and accrue all the benefits without having to bear the responsibilities?

Perhaps it is time that we truly appreciate the service of people like me who want nothing more than to grow and learn and are willing to put their lives in jeopardy to achieve that dream.

[AzRealProgressive]

I like your point. The other students can afford to pay for you.

[mexamerican]

great read. thanks for giving us your insight. my grandfather earned his citizenship during world war II. he was from mexico. people would be surprised how many latinos have served this country proudly.

[jcwtts1]

I couldn't agree more about service and the chicken hawks that got us into this war. If you personally believe we should be fighting than you should also believe in service. That is how serious the decision to go to war should be for every single politician, going to war is like sending my own son or daughter into combat. I wonder if the Neocons would still be talking about Iran. Great piece.

J

[dctackett]

Too many people are still at that developmental stage of seeing the world as a dichotomy... there's my group, then there is everyone else... the world is not a dichotomy, it's a unity, by harming others we harm ourselves... we need to help others learn that for themselves

[avalanch112]

I never though about it that way. This was a great article. Thank you for bringing something into the light that could dramaticly retool our failing immagration laws.

[WilliamGossett]

You couldn't state it any better!

[mjc]

Probably the one reason that Hispanics, the "bitter" Scotch-Irish of Middle America, the Irish, and perhaps the Oriental populations in this country find the black bitterness about slavery and conflicts over civil rights decades ago and today a bit overblown. Immigrants from every corner of the world faced problems in this nation and then as the country moved west in increments the American Indians had their societies wiped out by these same immigrants. Understanding that intolerance for what isn't like YOU or YOURS isn't confined to white-skinned people.

[jcwtts1]

First of all, black people weren't immigrants. We didn't choose to take a risk on a new world, we were kidnapped, raped and tortured for about 250 years as slaves, and then, while the Irish laws died out in the 1900-1920s, Jim Crow remained in force until the early 70s. I'm not trying to minimize the pain of Chinese, the native Americans, or any immigrant population but there are unique issues with African Americans, one of which is Africa is a continent. All Europeans aren't alike right, Irish, English, German, French, Polish, Italian, Swiss... they aren't all alike right, they don't all speak the same language, they aren't all the same religion, etc., Africans were exactly like that. Each with a distinct language religion cultural heritage that, because we weren't immigrants freely choosing to come to America, was obliterated. It wasn't one language or heritage destroyed it was many. The writer here speaks of Irish American, you write about Germanic and Scotch-Irish, what if there were no difference, what if there was no historical reference point for any of that... simply Euro American are you starting to see the beginning of the problem. That is one point out of about a hundred that makes our situation a little different and not so easily dismissed. Just something to think about, MJC.

J

[Robert Mackey - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree completely. No matter how bad the European immigrants (and Asian, for that matter) were treated, they at least were trying to get into the USA. The Africans were captured and sold and forced to be here. Completely different experience than today.

[mjc]

jcwttsi, but it did matter to those already established here what country in Europe one came from. Intolerance was directed at Slavs as well as the Irish and both ethnic groups endured horrible atrocities just because they were from a certain region in Europe. And not to forget that Jews from ANY part of the world often came to this country, before WWII, as the last refuge from pogroms and dreadful economic deprivation. They were not always welcomed either in other sections of the US outside of the big cities like New York. The Irish found Boston a fairly decent place to establish roots. The big difference is that blacks were transported here against their will by greedy ship's captains and sold to even greedier slavers, but there was no knowledge of African cultures; none. My point was and is that intolerance and hate know no particular skin color nor ethnic background.