Soldiers sworn in as U.S. citizens

MIAMI — Fabian Prado was 7 when he, his 8-year-old brother and their mother crossed the U.S-Mexico border without papers in 1987 — among the first Cuban refugees to flee to the United States via Mexico.

On Monday, Prado was one of 19 foreign-born soldiers who became U.S. citizens during a special ceremony in Kendall, Fla., before they deploy overseas.

The ceremony comes on the eve of when the Congress
is set to introduce the latest bill to legalize millions of
undocumented immigrants who have been unable to obtain immigration
status after illegally crossing the border or overstaying a visa.

On Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.,
is planning to file the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s
Security and Prosperity Act of 2009, a bill that may be embraced by the
White House when President Barack Obama is ready to pitch immigration reform.

Congress has debated immigration reform for years, but all
bills have failed in the face of fierce opposition from conservative
and anti-immigrant forces who decry any effort to legalize undocumented
immigrants.

While none of the soldiers interviewed after the
naturalization ceremony needed immigration reform to gain legal status,
many other immigrant soldiers are married to undocumented spouses who
could face deportation if discovered.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.,
last month joined other senators in sponsoring the Military Families
Act bill that would allow immediate family members of active-duty
soldiers to become permanent residents.

Immigrant soldiers receive expedited naturalization. A recent report from the Immigration Policy Center said that as of June 30
there were 114,601 foreign-born individuals serving in the U.S. armed
forces, or about 7.91 percent of the 1.4 million military personnel on
active duty.

And between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009, 10,505 immigrant soldiers became citizens, the report said.

“Without the contributions of immigrants, the
military could not meet its recruiting goals and could not fill its
need for foreign-language translators, interpreters and cultural
experts,” the report said.

Prado, 29, is one of the latest immigrant soldiers
to become a citizen — among the 19 immigrants from 12 countries who
swore allegiance to the United States at the special ceremony at the Kendall field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

He remembers sneaking into the United States like millions of undocumented immigrants at the Texas–Mexico
border in 1987, with his mother and his brother. The Mexican border is
now the most popular entry point for Cuban refugees, but in the 1980s
only a few trickled in.

“We fled Cuba by plane to Panama and from there by plane to Mexico City where we took a bus to a place near the Texas border which we reached walking,” Prado recalled. “We walked across and no one stopped us, then we caught a plane to Miami.”

Here the family obtained green cards under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

The majority of the soldiers who became citizens Monday came from Latin American countries including Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The rest came from Brazil, Bahamas, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Odson Pierre, 29, was one of two Haitians who became citizens. He arrived from Haiti when he was 13 and grew up in Miami, attending Miami Edison Senior High School. He joined the military more than a year ago and wants to make a career out of the armed forces.

Asked if he was nervous about his coming deployment, he replied matter-of-factly: “It comes with the job.”

Evaldo Marcos Dos Santos was the only Brazilian at the ceremony. He was 8 years old when he arrived and grew up in Miami. He joined the army about three years ago and is anxiously awaiting his first overseas duty.

“I’m looking forward to coming back,” he said.