Deported veteran Hector Barajas-Varela to become a U.S. citizen

[Póg mo 1,749]

10 minutes ago, jg121783 said:

Regardless of military service the law says immigtants are subject to deportation when they commit felonies. If he didn't want to be deported he should have followed the law. It's pretty simple.

The law can be an ### sometimes. 

[Póg mo 1,749]

Just now, Bill & Katya said:

Not exactly true, he would have had to be approved first.

Maybe, i am just going off of what is written the article. It looks to me that he likely would have been approved for citizenship at the time. There is nothing in the article stating he would not have qualified.

[Dashinka 24,766]

3 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

The law can be an ### sometimes. 

It can?  What would the MDL think if he was using an AR15 in the commission of his felony?

Just now, Póg mo said:

Maybe, i am just going off of what is written the article. It looks to me that he likely would have been approved for citizenship at the time. There is nothing in the article stating he would not have qualified.

Then he should have applied immediately after discharge.

[Póg mo 1,749]

3 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

It can?  What would the MDL think if he was using an AR15 in the commission of his felony?

Then he should have applied immediately after discharge.

He should not have needed to apply. It should be automatic. If you are good enough to put on a uniform, then you should be good enough to be granted citizenship. As I already said above, but you clearly decided to ignore, we don't know his mental state at the time, nor do we know anything about any other factors that may have prevented him applying for citizenship. 

[Dashinka 24,766]

Just now, Póg mo said:

He should not have needed to apply. It should be automatic. If you are good enough to put on a uniform, then you should be good enough to be granted citizenship. As I already said above, but you clearly decided to ignore, we don't know his mental state at the time, nor do we know anything about any other factors that may have prevented him applying for citizenship. 

It is called bureaucracy.  The federal government runs on it and even military veterans have to abide by the application process, and should be subject to the same background checks of anyone else.

[Póg mo 1,749]

10 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

It can?  What would the MDL think if he was using an AR15 in the commission of his felony?

 

It depends. I would prefer to know a lot more about any given situation, before jumping to snap judgements.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

34 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

Yes it is. He should have been granted US citizenship once he was honorably discharged. What ever he did or didn't do after that fact should have no bearing on what happened afterwards.

No, that’s not the way the law works. Once he joined the military and served ONE DAY, he had the opportunity to file a N400 for FREE and naturalize.  He chose not to for some reason.  

 

No one in the military gets automatic citizenship.

[Póg mo 1,749]

1 minute ago, Bill & Katya said:

It is called bureaucracy.

 

Yes, I am familiar with the term. 

 

1 minute ago, Bill & Katya said:

 

 The federal government runs on it and even military veterans have to abide by the application process, and should be subject to the same background checks of anyone else.

The system stinks. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

32 minutes ago, Keith & Arileidi said:

Not its not OK.
But its a common problem when it comes to our veterans.
He should have been made a citizen and got the help he needed after his service was complete.

I agree, HE should have taken the simple step needed to become a citizen.  Easiest path in the world to do so, right?  But he didn’t.  Don’t know why, but he chose not to.

[Póg mo 1,749]

1 minute ago, IDWAF said:

No, that’s not the way the law works. Once he joined the military and served ONE DAY, he had the opportunity to file a N400 for FREE and naturalize.  He chose not to for some reason.  

 

No one in the military gets automatic citizenship.

Never said that it did. I did say the law was an ### [donkey].

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

1 minute ago, Póg mo said:

Never said that it did. I did say the law was an ### [donkey].

But you also mentioned him obtaining citizenship after he got out.  Why not in the years before he joined?  Why not WHILE he was serving, when it’s free to file a N400?  Why not after his service, before he was deported for almost murdering someone?  Nowhere was it mentioned that he had PTSD, those are your words (so far).  And even at that, PTSD is NOT an excuse to break the law.  

As in the other case, where the media is telling lies about Cruz’ “two deployments to Afghanistan”, they are pulling at heartstrings, trying to get people to ignore the facts and the laws that were violated.

 

 

[Póg mo 1,749]

2 minutes ago, IDWAF said:

I agree, HE should have taken the simple step needed to become a citizen.  Easiest path in the world to do so, right?  But he didn’t.  Don’t know why, but he chose not to.

I don't know why he didn't either. I do know that it is a little rediculious to make the decision to deport someone solely on if or when documents were filed.  The

 

3 minutes ago, IDWAF said:

But you also mentioned him obtaining citizenship after he got out.  Why not in the years before he joined?  Why not WHILE he was serving, when it’s free to file a N400?  Why not after his service, before he was deported for almost murdering someone?  Nowhere was it mentioned that he had PTSD, those are your words (so far).  And even at that, PTSD is NOT an excuse to break the law.  

 

I didn't say he has PTSD or what not. I was trying to make the point that we don't know, and should not be rushing to judgement simply on the basis of a newspaper article.  

 

My other point was that I believe that if someone should decide to join the US military, then they should automatically be made a citizen. The law doesn't see it that way, but the law in my view stinks, and should be changed. 

3 minutes ago, IDWAF said:

 

 

 

As in the other case, where the media is telling lies about Cruz’ “two deployments to Afghanistan”, they are pulling at heartstrings, trying to get people to ignore the facts and the laws that were violated.

 

 

So let's imagine we have two identical twins who decide to enlist. They are both honorably discharged from the army. Both twins are fully eligible to apply for citizenship, and would be granted it. One twin immediately becomes a full US citizen, while the other does not. The US citizen twin goes on a major crime spree, rape, sexual abuse, and when caught only serves ten years in prison. He is very likely to reofend in the future. The other non citizen twin unknowingly breaks the law, and when caught receives a two month jail sentence. The non citizen twin is very unlikely to break the law ever again. Is it right that the non citizen twin be deported, while the citizen twin is not? 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

23 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

I don't know why he didn't either. I do know that it is a little rediculious to make the decision to deport someone solely on if or when documents were filed.  The

 

I didn't say he has PTSD or what not. I was trying to make the point that we don't know, and should not be rushing to judgement simply on the basis of a newspaper article.  

 

My other point was that I believe that if someone should decide to join the US military, then they should automatically be made a citizen. The law doesn't see it that way, but the law in my view stinks, and should be changed. 

So let's imagine we have two identical twins who decide to enlist. They are both honorably discharged from the army. Both twins are fully eligible to apply for citizenship, and would be granted it. One twin immediately becomes a full US citizen, while the other does not. The US citizen twin goes on a major crime spree, rape, sexual abuse, and when caught only serves ten years in prison. He is very likely to reofend in the future. The other non citizen twin unknowingly breaks the law, and when caught receives a two month jail sentence. The non citizen twin is very unlikely to break the law ever again. Is it right that the non citizen twin be deported, while the citizen twin is not? 

I thought this vet got deported for a felony gun charge?  I'm surprised at the folks here who say we need more gun control, yet they are upset that this attempted murderer (possibly, at least reckless discharge of a gun) was deported, as is consistent with current law.

 

As to your twins story, it might not seem fair, but it is right, under current law.  The current law allows vets to naturalized for free, pending a successful BG check.  Do you think this should be changed?

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

2 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

So someone signs up for the military that is a foreign citizen and they automatically are granted US citizenship?

I think you forgot the stipulation where they actually serve the country in your rather overly simplistic rhetorical question. 

 

But yeah, why not? 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

8 minutes ago, Keith & Arileidi said:

I think you forgot the stipulation where they actually serve the country in your rather overly simplistic rhetorical question. 

 

But yeah, why not? 

Ummm, for about a hundred reasons... No.  Hopefully never.