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Private Romero's 50-Year Long March To Become A U.S.
Citizen Instead, his mother decided to have Arthur in Mexico. After his birth, mother
and baby entered the U.S. as permanent residents.
His father had suffered discrimination in California because of his Mexican
heritage and his dark skin. When Arthur received a 1-A classification from his
draft board during World War II, his father ordered his teenage son to go to
Mexico rather than enter the U.S. Army. Although Arthur had misgivings about
doing so, he did not dare to question his father's authority. Little did he know
the price that he would have to pay.
U.S. immigration laws provide that an immigrant who leaves the U.S. to avoid
the draft during wartime becomes forever ineligible for U.S. citizenship or even
for permanent residence.
Mr. Romero lived in Mexico until 1948. Upon the outbreak of the Korean War,
he applied for and was granted a visa to reenter the U.S. He immediately
enlisted in the U.S. Army. However, there was a hitch in his plans to make
amends for his earlier conduct. Since he had lost his permanent residence, he
needed to be a U.S. citizen to enlist. His aunt signed an affidavit that he had
been born in the U.S.
During his three-year tenure in the Army, this affidavit became subject to
severe scrutiny by various federal agencies. Sometime in 1951, after Private
Romero had married a citizen of the U.S., the Immigration Service found him to
be illegally in the U.S. Based on the INS' findings, the Army granted him an
honorable discharge "for the convenience of the service". The INS brought him to
Calexico, California and told him to "voluntarily depart" the U.S. by walking
across the border to Mexicali, Mexico. Little did he know that it would take him
almost 50 years to earn the right to live in the U.S.
For the next few years, Mr. and Mrs. Romero resided in Mexicali, Mexico
although Mrs. Romero crossed the border daily to work at her job in Calexico,
California.
Three times, Mrs. Romero applied for a green card for her husband, and three
times the application was denied.
Finally, the Romeros returned to the U.S., Mr. Romero with an INS-issued
border crossing card. In 1971, he applied for U.S. citizenship on the basis of
his wartime service in the U.S. military. The interview went perfectly. However,
later he was called in by the INS and asked to withdraw his application because
the INS told him that his departure to Mexico during World War II made him
permanently ineligible for naturalization.
Although he complied and withdrew his application, INS took no steps to try
to deport him. In the meantime, life went on. Mr. and Mrs. Romero lived in the
U.S., raised and sent to college their three sons, all of whom are U.S.
citizens. Ironically, one son later became the Mayor of Calexico. However, the
family always lived with the fear that Mr. Romero might one day be deported.
Despite his 30+ years of working and paying taxes in the U.S., his lack of a
criminal record and his three years of honorable military service, Mr. Romero
was suspended in legal limbo. Even after his retirement, he never asked for or
received a single Social Security check, or any benefits from Medicare or the
Veterans Administration.
Then came the Internet. In 1998, one of the Romero's sons was referred to our
web site by a law school immigration clinic. There, he found a link to INS's web
site regarding "Interpretations" for naturalization cases. The link lead him to
a 1980 case of a man who, because of a fraudulent enlistment, received an
honorable discharge from the U.S. Army "for the convenience of the Service".
Unlike Mr. Romero, who had lacked the resources to do so, the man had gone to
Federal Court to challenge INS's interpretation of the law. He won his case and
was granted U.S. citizenship. Because of this case, the INS had changed their
position and decided that persons who served during wartime who were discharged
"for the convenience of the Service" were nevertheless eligible to be
naturalized.
Mr. Romero's son contacted us and asked whether this case applied to his
father. We agreed that it did, and we quickly prepared and submitted an
application for naturalization for Arthur Romero, then in his mid-70's.
However, because the INS had a very difficult time trying to locate his
ancient file and obtain his military records, it took over 18 months and the
assistance of Rep. Calvin Dooley (D-CA) to schedule a naturalization interview
for Mr. Romero. I recently accompanied him to his interview in Fresno,
California. The INS examiner was pleasant, and Mr. Romero passed his U.S.
history and government test with flying colors. The INS examiner told him that
he had passed, and handed him a letter scheduling him for an October swearing-in
ceremony. When we informed Mrs. Romero and their son what had happened, it was
all smiles and hugs. See a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Romero and me, taken a few
minutes after his interview:
Recently, I received a glowing letter from Mrs. Romero about her husband's
swearing-in ceremony. Private Romero's 50-year long march had ended
successfully. He had, at long last, become a proud citizen of the United States.
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