WWII vet, learns he's not a U.S. citizen

[Shadow]

WWII vet, 95, learns he's not a U.S. citizen

CENTRALIA, Wash. -- A 95-year-old military veteran just discovered he's not a U.S. citizen.

"I always thought I was an American citizen," Leeland Davidson said.

That is until he decided to visit relatives in Canada.

"We went up to get an enhanced driver's license and they turned me down," he said.

He was rejected because it turns out the World War II veteran is Canadian.

WWII vet, 95, learns he's not a U.S. citizen | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon - Portland, Oregon | News

 

[BrianBursch]

O.K. Now this is a case of ignorance of our Government Employees, Come on get off your duffs and think about this the man has been in this country all his life, went to war for this country, and by the way if he wasn't a citizen, how was he able to fight in our army, Huh, back than things were goofy, yes, and they are even more messed up now. Dept. of Immigration, Give him his rights and stop messing with something likes this, if you people have all this time to mess with a 95 yr old U.S. VETERAN, than we need to go into the Immigration Department and start making some cuts there.....

 

[whitehall]

I wonder if he ever tried to vote. If he did it should have alerted him to the paperwork problem 70 years ago. Another reason to vote.

 

[The Gadfly]

I wonder if he ever tried to vote. If he did it should have alerted him to the paperwork problem 70 years ago. Another reason to vote.

I wondered about that too, Whitehall; but then the article mentioned something about him receiving Social Security. If that's the case, he must have had a Social Security number, and that, plus proof of residence, would have allowed him to register to vote in a lot of states. It doesn't say whether he ever did register to vote, but he likely could have; that plus what the lawyer told him back in the 40's and I can see why he would have assumed he was a citizen.

They should be able to make him a naturalized citizen fairly easily, because of his military service, but if either of his parents was a natural-born American, he already is an American by birth, even though he was born in Canada. Maybe they can find his mother's birth record, since apparently his father's is unavailable; that would settle the issue; the whole thing seems to be less about whether he's an American citizen, than proving it. Somehow, it just doesn't seem fair that this should come up so late in the old man's life, and I sure hope someone can get it straightened out for him.

 

[FuelRod]

More proof we're losing the war on terror.

 

[Liability]

I would have to do actual work (involving effort on my part) to verify my hazy recollection, so take this with a grain of salt:

I seem to recall that Congress can, by their own special legislation, make this man a U.S. citizen.

If that's correct, then somebody needs to get on the horn, call this guy's local Congress-person and make the suggestion.

Seems to me that it should happen "post haste."

EDIT: See, 77 Stat. 5 (1963). It was via a private act of Congress that Sir Winston Churchill was made an "honorary" U.S. citizen. But

Although the usual form of naturalization is through individual application and official response on the basis of general congressional rules, naturalization is not so limited. Citizenship can be conferred by special act of Congress,1227 it can be conferred collectively either through congressional action, such as the naturalization of all residents of an annexed territory or of a territory made a State,1228 or through treaty provision.1229

-- http://supreme.justia.com/constitution/article-1/35-naturalization-and-citizenship.html [Note, in that piece, footnote 1227 refers to 77 Stat. 5 (1963) which is way too long and ponderous to quote.]

 

[whitehall]

I think it makes a good story to sell papers but there isn't much to it. Just because he was turned down by some bureaucrat for something called an "enhanced drivers license" (still driving at 95?) it doesn't mean he is not a citizen.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

O.K. Now this is a case of ignorance of our Government Employees, Come on get off your duffs and think about this the man has been in this country all his life, went to war for this country, and by the way if he wasn't a citizen, how was he able to fight in our army, Huh, back than things were goofy, yes, and they are even more messed up now. Dept. of Immigration, Give him his rights and stop messing with something likes this, if you people have all this time to mess with a 95 yr old U.S. VETERAN, than we need to go into the Immigration Department and start making some cuts there.....

You don't have to be a citizen to serve in the military. A friend of mine was a South Korean citizen and served in the US Army (he received his citizenship after a couple of years in the military though).

Not sure if they let non-citizens in back then-but today they do.

 

[Toro]

He's Canadian.

That's even better!

 

[rightwinger]

My Grandfather was a Swede fighting for the US in WWII. He said they just came around and asked "who wants to be a US Citizen?" and they just knocked it off in a day

 

[SFC Ollie]

I served with several non-citizens. Some of them went on to get their citizenship, some didn't.

But this old veteran should already have a congressman working overtime to get his citizenship worked out. They let illegals get a drivers license yet stop an American Veteran? BS.

 

[High_Gravity]

Give this man his citizenship immediately!

 

[SFC Ollie]

Give this man his citizenship immediately!

And grandfather it to the day he was born....

 

[ABikerSailor]

Yep. This guy went to war on the premise that he was a citizen, and he served honorably. Obviously, he's not been in much trouble, because if he was, he would have found this out quicker.

Me? I say give him his US citizenship and be done with it. And Ollie is right, grandfather it back to the day he was born.

 

[Si modo]

I wonder if he ever tried to vote. If he did it should have alerted him to the paperwork problem 70 years ago. Another reason to vote.

I wondered about that too, Whitehall; but then the article mentioned something about him receiving Social Security. If that's the case, he must have had a Social Security number, and that, plus proof of residence, would have allowed him to register to vote in a lot of states. It doesn't say whether he ever did register to vote, but he likely could have; that plus what the lawyer told him back in the 40's and I can see why he would have assumed he was a citizen.

They should be able to make him a naturalized citizen fairly easily, because of his military service, but if either of his parents was a natural-born American, he already is an American by birth, even though he was born in Canada. Maybe they can find his mother's birth record, since apparently his father's is unavailable; that would settle the issue; the whole thing seems to be less about whether he's an American citizen, than proving it. Somehow, it just doesn't seem fair that this should come up so late in the old man's life, and I sure hope someone can get it straightened out for him.

Noncitzens can have social security numbers, so, a SSN does not prove citizenship.

 

[Shadow]

WWII vet, 95, to get US citizenship

SEATTLE - A 95-year-old World War II veteran who got into a jam earlier this month because he couldn't prove his U.S. citizenship will soon have all the proof he needs.

Leland Davidson will receive a certificate of citizenship in a special ceremony on Tuesday, along with 58 other people.

WWII vet, 95, to get US citizenship | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

 

[Liability]

WWII vet, 95, to get US citizenship

SEATTLE - A 95-year-old World War II veteran who got into a jam earlier this month because he couldn't prove his U.S. citizenship will soon have all the proof he needs.

Leland Davidson will receive a certificate of citizenship in a special ceremony on Tuesday, along with 58 other people.

WWII vet, 95, to get US citizenship | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

A nice cap to this story.

Thanks for sharing the find.