Twenty Four Year-Old Fallen Soldier Granted Posthumous Citizenship
4 April 2008, 3:00 PM. By Guanabee Staff
Corporal Jose “Joe” Rubio, pictured here with his son Nikolai, was born in Mexico and grew up in Mission, Texas. He never sent in his American citizenship paperwork, which was filled out, because he was too busy serving in the Iraq War. On March 24, a roadside bomb exploded near Corporal Rubio’s vehicle in Baghdad, killing him and three others and bringing the Iraq War death toll to 4000. This week, as his family prepares to bury him, the United States government has announced that they will be granting Corporal Rubio posthumous citizenship.
U.S Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) says Rubio will be granted citizenship posthumously because “he embodies the true meaning of patriotism.” We only wish he still embodied a living soldier. Sorry to be a downer, but with the dramatic increase in the past twenty years in the percentage of Latinos (of both sexes) enlisting in active duty armed forces†, it’s important to remember that Latinos are giving their lives for this country. Some of them, the very same aliens who are being vilified by the media.
Rubio Given U.S. Citizenship [KRGV]
Soldier returns [Valley Morning Star]
Mission soldier dies in roadside bombing [The Monitor]
†Latinos Claim Larger Share of U.S. Military Personnel [Population Reference Bureau]
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Oh, serious!!! On the same note, I don’t think it’s a good idea for folks who are only permanent residents to enlist in the Army. You are not an American citizen and can actually get deported over very minor things. The US is not going to care about you if you are not a citizen, the sacrifice and commitment you are making by joining the military is not reflected back in the US’s treatment of you. There was a huge article about this in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/24vets.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=immigration+army&st=nyt&oref=slogin), detailing what a hard time the USCIS was giving enlisted soldiers who wanted to apply for citizenship. Their citizenship interviews were even scheduled while there were in combat in Iraq, the fact that they were in active duty seemed to be inconsequential to the way the agency processed their applications. So if you’re only a permanent resident, try to get a job that doesn’t involved avoiding getting blown up by IED’s in Iraq and then getting treated like a terrorist when you get back to US soil.
my brother served in the army for 8 years.. he was actually told that by enlisting and being in the Army he would become a US citizen… 5 years later when he’s trying to apply for a passport they tell him he is still a mexican citizen. WHAT?!?
THAT SHIT IS FUCKED UP!!
My very PAISA boyfriend (american citizen) was in the Army and fought in IRAQ… go Latin soldiers!
@la roncha: Um, you can’t just show up and apply for an American passport if you’re not an American citizen. Serving in the military does not result in automatic citizenship. You should, you know, research those things before flinging expletives around. You have to actually go through the naturalization process to become a citizen, it doesn’t happen in your sleep.
God Bless Him
This is such a sad story. I think that the liars who instigated this war should (whether posthumously or not) have their American citizenship revoked. But I’m not sure any other country would want Bush, Cheney and Rove.
he was damn cute too. bet he was a sweet guy.