Should we allow Iraqis a chance to come to the US?

[wildcat]

The nightly news has been running a segment on the Iraqi interpreters who have helped out US/Coalition Forces in Iraq. It is an incredibly dangerous job. They risk death either way whether it be from the military patrols or from the fact that they helped the enemy in the eyes of the opposition.

A few have been severely injured from the patrols and were flown to Jordan for treatment. Jordan forced them to leave once the treatment was finished. Now they are back in Iraq but most are too injured to work as interpreters again and face the risk of being kidnapped/killed by the opposition. Most of their injuries are very visible.

The question is (and Ted Kennedy is pushing for action), do we help these people? Do we allow them the chance to become citizens of the US which is what the ones interviewed seemed to want - i.e. they feel they paid the ultimate sacrifice and many of the soldiers who worked with them feel the same way?

 

[bssc]

Sure, since they put their life on the line. There are a large number of foreign nationals in the US Army who are serving to get citizenship. I think James McKinley of the NY Times said 41,000. And think of the large numbers of Vietnamese and Cambodians who now live in the US. I think that they all should get the chance to become citizens, in addition to those that are fast tracked because of their wealth or because they win the immigration lottery.

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[Nords]

Heck, yeah, let 'em immigrate.

Look at how we treated the Native American interpreters in the frontier wars, the Philippine Scouts in WWII, the South Vietnamese & Hmong in Vietnam, the Kurds...

My FIL worked with a couple South Vietnamese expats when they left Saigon for the Washington bureau of CBS. They were doing a great job acculturating, learning the technology, rescuing as many family/relatives as they could, and sucking up as much overtime as they could handle. Life was good.

Then one day my FIL was kvetching about a property deal and one of the guys asked what he was talking about. My FIL said the look on his face was priceless as he realized that an American bank would lend money to just about anyone with a job and let them buy property with only 20% down, other nonprofit organizations would help then get set up in business, and the American govt would subsidize their taxes. It took him a couple months to verify all the foolish things he was hearing.

He still enjoys being a CBS cameraman but now he's also running the family corporation of a couple restaurants, a few apartment buildings, and several fine retail outlets. The next generation has taken most of the reins and is raising the future employees & executives. He doesn't work overtime anymore...

 

[wildcat]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/14/eveningnews/main2478843.shtml

Link to the story I caught. It was on NBC as well.

I think James McKinley of the NY Times said 41,000.

I could be wrong but I think a lot of Hispanics are going this route for a chance at citizenship.

 

[bssc]

There was a Washington Post article that said that some of the units in Ft. Hood were made up of 40% Mexican Nationals who were fighting for citizenship. And if you get killed, your immediate family (spouse and kids) become citizens and get your death benefits.

Of course, I could not Google the article so you will have to trust my faulty memory.

 

[bssc]

The historian Edward Gibbon attributed the decline of the Roman Empire in large part to the fact that native Roman citizens would no longer serve in the legions and they had to use foreign soldiers to fight their wars. Just a little food for thought.

I would point out in return the Irish and Germany Brigades that fought in the Civil War so that richer Americans would not have to.