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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.

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/Fed ... hpt=us_bn9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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.

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.

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.

My answer would be: "I honor and respect your service to the nation, and I thank you for it. Now if you'll just take this quick test, we can confer citizenship on you."

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;

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;

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!).

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.

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.

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.

If you risk your life for my freedom you deserve yours. Just my humble opinion.

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.

JeepGuy79 wrote:If you risk your life for my freedom you deserve yours. Just my humble opinion.

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.

I don't think they should just open the flood gates and let everyone in but if you fight to defend our rights by god I think you deserve them. When I lived in the keys cubans would float over to my beach in freaking vw's they turned into a boat or intertubes or whatever they could find. I cannot imagine 90 miles of hell in open ocean just to get the freedom we take for granted. Then when they get here Us coast guard and ICE is wading in the water to keep them from touching our precious soil. I would set up a lawn chair and cheer them on as their feet touched sand and hand out gatoraide and crackers to them when they made it.

I think if you want to be here bad enough to die for it or you risk your life for this great country we have room for you. I am glad that we don't just let everyone in but we are talking about Vets of 2 of the bloodiest wars we have had.

The 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.

Hey, they might even start teaching that in public schools again someday. Ya never know

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.

How does a green card guy get drafted?

G26ster wrote:

The 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.

Hey, they might even start teaching that in public schools again someday. Ya never know

Maybe, just maybe. Nahh!!!!!