Governor Welcomes More Than 200 Marines, Sailors as New U.S. Citizens

CAMP PENDLETON —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised as “the real heroes of America” 207 Marines and sailors who took the oath of citizenship Friday in a flag-draped ceremony here.

Representing 43 countries, the service personnel became U.S. citizens under a federal program to assist immigrants in the military.

“By choice you came to this land, and by choice you are fighting for this country, and that is extraordinary,” said Schwarzenegger, who emigrated from Austria and became a U.S. citizen by taking the same oath in 1984. “I want to applaud you.”

Many in the audience, assembled in the ballroom of a staff noncommissioned officers club, served during the first phase of the war in Iraq. Many are preparing to return to that country, as Marines from Camp Pendleton relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

“There are so many things I want to do for this country,” said Sgt. Delwin Ellington, 23, an immigrant from Jamaica. Ellington served in a combat unit in Iraq and will soon return as part of the nation-building effort.

As other presidents have done during wartime, President Bush issued an executive order streamlining the citizenship process for immigrants in the military after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

An estimated 5% of the U.S. military is composed of immigrants or naturalized citizens. The tradition of service in the military by noncitizens predates the Civil War; by one estimate, 20% of Medal of Honor recipients have been noncitizens.

During the early weeks of combat in Iraq, noncitizens accounted for a higher percentage of U.S. casualties than their percentage of the overall force.

Sgt. Andrew Crespo, 27, from Ecuador, said he decided to apply for citizenship after a Marine in his squad was killed in fighting near Nasiriyah and was given citizenship posthumously.

“I realized it was the right thing,” Crespo said.

Several of the new citizens said they planned to vote in the presidential election. For others, citizenship offers new opportunities; certain top-secret jobs are open only to citizens, and only citizens can become officers.

“It’s my honor to be in this place,” said sailor Kihyuk Hong, 24, from South Korea.

More than 13,000 service members have applied for citizenship since Bush’s order. A process that often took years has now been reduced to weeks, with the military assigning personnel to help with the paperwork.

“I understand that many of you are soon to redeploy,” said Eduardo Aguirre, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “You are carrying out a just and noble mission.”

The ceremony, with District Court Judge M. James Lorenz administering the oath, is one of several held in the last year.

More than a thousand service members have become citizens in San Diego since the Bush order.

“This is a huge day for me,” said Sgt. Javier Garcia, 23, born in Mexico. “Now I’m part of the Constitution.”