"Especially in the Army, there are a high percentage of Hispanic Americans, and people from different countries. They do it without asking for anything, because they want to serve their country," said Castro, 24, a Honduran immigrant who volunteered in 2000 and is now a U.S. citizen. [...]Military personnel like Castro, who left the Army in 2004, will be the focus of an unusual U.S. Senate field hearing Monday, when legislators bring their immigration road show to Miami. Seeking to garner public support for a bill that would overhaul the immigration system, senators plan to highlight the contributions of foreign-born soldiers in the war on terror.
There is a word for this kind of soldier: "mercenary." The financial benefits are considerable for an illegal alien when he receives expedited naturalization in return for a couple years service.
Furthermore, it's not true that non-citizen soldiers aren't "asking for anything." Some are quite miffed that their entire families aren't given amnesty [Veterans Drawn Into Immigration Debate, Washington Post, 4/24/06].
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. [...]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.
Convicted terrorist Ali Mohamed is another example of why permitting foreign soldiers can be unwise. A naturalized citizen from Egypt, he used the experience of his US Army background to train Osama's bodyguards as well as plan the 1998 African embassy bombings, which killed 12 Americans and a couple hundred Africans.
Over in Iraq, Hispanic gang graffiti have shown up on walls and military vehicles. "Be all you can be" has apparently been taken to heart by foreign gangsters. Instead of celebrating military "diversity," we should consider the associated problems of welcoming recruits with divided loyalties and providing military training for gangsters and enemies. The armed forces have already had at least one member of al Qaeda wearing the uniform—how many are now?
