Soldier with fake green card may be citizen soon

By The Associated Press

	Juan Escalante
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Related stories Sept. 12, 2003: Soldier served in Iraq but may be deported Oct. 3, 2003: Army says illegal-immigrant soldier can stay Oct. 6, 2003 editorial: Pvt. Escalante, a real citizen-soldier

Pfc. Juan Escalante, who enlisted in the Army by showing a fake green card he bought for $50, could take his citizenship oath in Seattle Wednesday.

"I feel great," said Escalante, who grew up largely in Seattle and graduated from Chief Sealth High in 2002. "This is what I've been looking for ever since my parents told me I was illegal."

The Army said it assisted him to pursue citizenship because he was a valuable soldier who would do the country more good as a citizen than as a deported immigrant. Escalante's case was spotlighted in several Seattle Times stories late last year.

President Bush signed an executive order in July 2002 speeding up the citizenship process for active-duty military. Under the order, Escalante would not need a green card before seeking citizenship.

Escalante was born in Mexico. He was 4 when he crossed illegally into the United States with his mother. He grew up in Seattle and signed a four-year contract with the Army after graduating from high school in 2002.

He served as a mechanic in Kuwait and Iraq for four months as a member of the 1st Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which launched the ground invasion that began the Iraq war.

"This is my country," Escalante said. "I want to stay living here."

The Army doesn't plan to discharge Escalante even though he misled a recruiter, said his immigration attorney, Glen Prior.

If he passes a civics and history test Wednesday, he could take his oath that afternoon, said Leann Leigh, an agency spokeswoman.

But while the Army has worked to grant Escalante citizenship, federal immigration authorities are still readying to deport his parents. Seattle immigration Judge Anna Ho denied a petition earlier this year for legal permanent residency filed by Bernardo and Silvia Escalante, who have lived in the country for 15 years.
 
"It's a continuation of the ambivalence in immigration policy (that) has marked the past 30 years," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter enforcement of immigration laws. "There's nothing unusual about these two opposite things happening at the same time."

If Juan Escalante becomes a citizen, Prior said he will appeal the decision against his parents, arguing he would face a hardship if his parents were deported.

Times staff reporter Florangela Davila contributed to this report.

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