Tammy Duckworth Calls On Congress To Better Protect Immigrant Veterans
HuffPost
Sen. Tammy Duckworth lambasted policies that allowed the U.S. to deport noncitizen veterans, and called on lawmakers to help bring them home.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) called on Congress to make it easier for immigrant veterans to gain U.S. citizenship for their service, as well as pass legislation to aid those who have been deported under a complicated system she said often penalizes rather than protects. Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War and a Purple Heart recipient, spoke before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety on Wednesday shortly after she released a report detailing the convoluted process noncitizen veterans face after their service. Immigrants have enlisted in the American military for centuries and have long been rewarded with an expedited pathway to citizenship for their service. However, those programs have been narrowed or eliminated in recent years, resulting in some veterans’ deportation. “These are proud Americans who simply wish to become citizens of a nation whose uniform they’ve proudly worn in service. They are powerful assets,” the lawmaker testified, before noting that she had spoken with servicemembers who were instead “detained and deported by the same country they’re defending.”More Related News