I found this on AlterNet did a search and found no diaries here. I was astounded to find that if a person dies for the U.S. in this war, their families can still be deported if they don't have green cards yet. Why the families of dead soldiers don't automatically get green cards is a question I want asked at the highest levels. These people come here looking for a better life, they answer the call when asked to fight for the U.S. They die for the U.S. Surely, their families deserve to stay here given the sacrifice on OUR behalf made by their loved one. Remember, it's a volunteer army, so they didn't have to go.
The first U.S. soldier to die in this war got into the Marines on faked papers. Five percent of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq are estimated to be illegal immigrants.
The first soldier to die for the United States in the Iraq war was in fact Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
The story at AlterNet is about a specific case mostly, Enrique Soriano, the father of Private Armando Soriano. His son died in Iraq, and now he is being deported. His wife has a green card, and three of four his children were born in the U.S. The one born in Mexico has applied for a green card. But due to his having been formally deported on a visit to Mexico, he is ineligible for immigration benefits, like a green card.
Apparently, being a good citizen, even if you aren't officially one, raising your kids right, sending one to war and losing him, does not fulfill the requirements for immigration. Even if you have been living here for years.
I am totally outraged by this. If an immigrant, legal or not, joins the armed forces, goes to Iraq and gets killed, his family should be given green cards, never mind the bureaucratic regulations.
Please email Congressmen and Senators asking that this man be given an exception to the rules, so he can stay in the country his son died for.