Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/Fed ... hpt=us_bn9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. - For the last 41 years, a man has been without a country even though he served in the United States military in Vietnam.
Franz Pschenica, 65, has official government documents stating he's an American, but legally he's not, because he never took the written test everyone must take to become a citizen. It's a test he said he's already taken on the battlefield.
JJVP wrote:
We have a Constitution by which we all agree to live, and upon which we frame our laws. When he enlisted, he took an oath to defend it......without exception. Although I am sympathetic to his plight, I agree with bizarrenormality. He's had 40 years to rectify this, and the legal mechanisms aren't, or at least weren't then, in place to make him an automatic citizen because he served. We either a live under the rule of law or we don't. What we DO know is that when we act just because it feels good, we get the nation we labor under today. He would be far from the first person who ever found himself in this position. If we make an allowance for him, then we have to make an allowance for everyone who thinks that the U.S. owes it to them. It is tempting to say, well then, lets pass a law making military service a substitution for taking the citizenship exam. And we could do that, if we wanted to. But, military service, for all of its basic goodness, is NOT a substitute for knowing the Constitution, knowing the past presidents, knowing how our system of government works, and all of the other stuff of which the written test guarantees that newly minted citizens will have at least a cursory understanding.bizarrenormality wrote:JJVP wrote:
He could have solved the problem at any time in the past 40 years by passing the written test like other immigrants.
He chose to be stubborn instead.
That whole thing is about as put on a deal as I have ever seen. Its rigged...they use the old veteran to show how terrible the law is...and why it should be scrapped, as if the major impact, or any serious impact, is against veterans. Give me a break...Of course, they pick an old "FDR" Democrat to be their example, too, for maximum effect. This thing is simply theater of the absurd, but they'll tug some heart strings with it ("oh, those cruel, callous, meanie Republicans, they want to keep a war hero from voting, how evil of them, we MUST throw out this law, blah blah blah")...anything to keep their voter rolls full, including folks that shouldn't be voting in the first place (and no, I'm NOT talking about that old veteran!).C-dub wrote:Florida is doing the same thing with a WWII veteran and around 2,600 others that may or may not be veterans.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05 ... enship-to/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When I went to USAF Basic Training many years ago, we had a guy in my training flight who was a citizen of Spain. He spoke English pretty darned well, just with a Spanish accent of course. And when we asked him about it, he said he wanted to be an American and it would get him ready to become a citizen. Not sure how it worked, I guess we figured it was automatic once he had served his term...seems strange to me, as well.C-dub wrote:I'm all for not letting non-citizens vote. However, I also don't understand how a non-citizen can serve in our military or why someone that does and is either currently active or not dishonorably discharged is not automatically granted citizenship.
I'm not saying they don't deserve it. I'm saying that there is a process that must be followed. There is a reason that they make you take the classes and pass a test, and has nothing to do with one's service—service which is commendable and for which I am grateful. The reason for the class and test is to make sure that new citizens are properly educated in our form of government and the responsibilities of citizenship. That is a good thing, and it should be encouraged instead of bypassed.JeepGuy79 wrote:If you risk your life for my freedom you deserve yours. Just my humble opinion.
Hey, they might even start teaching that in public schools again someday. Ya never knowThe Annoyed Man wrote:The reason for the class and test is to make sure that new citizens are properly educated in our form of government and the responsibilities of citizenship.
How does a green card guy get drafted?MoJo wrote:I was in the Army with several green card aliens during Vietnam. Some were drafted some enlisted none expected to automatically get citizenship although all wanted it. I helped a guy from Cuba study for his citizenship test. He passed.
Maybe, just maybe. Nahh!!!!!G26ster wrote:Hey, they might even start teaching that in public schools again someday. Ya never knowThe Annoyed Man wrote:The reason for the class and test is to make sure that new citizens are properly educated in our form of government and the responsibilities of citizenship.
