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Awful Immigration Story - Need Advice ..!
Thu, February 28, 2008 - 11:55 AM
I recently made friends with a group of Irish lads ( and a couple of Brits, to boot ). One very cool fellow in this group has a frustrating story to tell. This guy is a trained fighter pilot that came over to join the U.S. Air Force, but, apparently he came into the states just as changes went into effect in U.S. military policy concerning foreign pilots. Although he was invited here by the USAF, he was abruptly turned away and wound up getting stuck in the U.S. ( although I think the SF is not a bad place to be stuck ! ) This gent does not want to return to Ireland because there is no career opportunity for him in his line of expertise and also because he believes that by fighting the "war on terror" that he will make the world a better place and, further to that, his sacrifice will preserve someone else from doing the same. Although in principle I am opposed to the war on terror, I can respect this man and his convictions.
Regardless of my political orientation, this guy is just wasting himself working as a mover and seems to be getting more discouraged and depressed. He tells me that the Irish embassy has been no use and he seems to be slipping into a limbo of despondency .. : (
I would appreciate any thoughts, advice, feedback, resources, referrals to an immigration lawyer or activist organization, etc. and, yes, I know the war on terror part of it is a pretty damn dodgy issue, but I thought to add that because this guy's story is so damn unusual, especially considering the haight raver hipster community he's become part of.
Otherwise, I hope all of you are well out there in tribe-land. Apologies for my lack of participation in the community, but thanks for your help with this matter.
Thu, February 28, 2008 - 11:55 AM -
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8 Comments
8 Comments |
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Thu, February 28, 2008 - 12:13 PM
There are some legal forums on tribe have you seen em?
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Thu, February 28, 2008 - 12:28 PM
Wish I could help but we only deal in asylum cases.
Hope all is well with you Mr. Spaghetti! xo |
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Thu, February 28, 2008 - 2:59 PM
It is going to be hard to work from this angle because he is not a citizen. I would try contacting the manufacturer of the aircraft that he flew. They are always looking for pilots but he is not a citizen so that would cause a security clearance problem. But they might have ways of working that out. But Ireland is harder than the UK. You dont state clearly if this fellow is a Brit or Irish, there's a huge difference when it comes to security clearances.
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Thu, February 28, 2008 - 3:38 PM
Do you know Mercy??? She's an immigration lawyer! Let me know if you want me to put you in touch with her if you don't know her.
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Sat, March 1, 2008 - 6:57 AM
hey there mr. spaghetti!! been a loooong time.... i'm recovering at home after my surgery but getting back on my feet. give me a call sometime! i wanted to comment on this because i have quite a bit of experience in this area.
first, there has never been a non-citizen commissioned officer in the US military. fighter pilots are commissioned officers. the policy allows residents who hold green card to enlist in the military for one term. they can't re-enlist until they become US citizens. the US has beefed up marketing efforts in recruiting to attract more green card holders simply because the monkey in the oval office keeps sending people off to die and the recruiting numbers dwindle every year. if your friend was turned away at the recruiting office, it was most likely due to one of two reasons: 1. he doesn't have a valid green card, or it's a temporary green card 2. he wants to be a fighter pilot in the air force, but they don't take non-citizens as commissioned officers perhaps he tried to join the military by riding on the American Dream Act (i'm not sure if that's passed or not, though), which would have given him a green card if he met certain criteria. but, i believe the Act requires that the alien have been in the US since the age of 15 in order to attain the green card. i'm sure an immigration attorney can answer these questions, and they're plentiful in SF. if he has a valid green card, he can enlist in any branch of the US military right now and go fight his little heart out... just not as a pilot or any other commissioned officer position. if he's that depressed over it, why doesn't he just do that? on the surface, it appears there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye, and honestly as an Irishman who visits Dublin frequently, i'd really look at this fellow up, down, and sideways before i take everything he says as gospel. |
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Sat, March 1, 2008 - 7:06 AM
oh and just for clarification, the US military doesn't assist in getting a green card. recruits have to already be residents in order to enlist. following a term in the military, if the resident alien becomes a US citizen, he can then come back to the military and re-enlist or be an officer if he qualifies (meeting education requirements).
he'll be subject - just like anyone else - to an extensive background investigation for a security clearance, as well. |
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Sat, March 1, 2008 - 8:01 AM
Well darn. I left a comment but for some reason it didn't save it. I just came back here and it's not here. In a nutshell:
You can't join the US Military without a green card and an established residence in the US. You can only serve one term with a green card (or visa), then you have to become a citizen before you can re-enlist. Serving in the military accelerates the citizenship process, but the military has nothing to do with citizen status. You can't be an officer in the military unless you're a US citizen. Fighter pilots are officers, so he can't be a fighter pilot until he's a citizen. The military doesn't provide green cards or assist in getting them. You have to have one before you go to the recruiter. The Irish embassy would be no help because they're not in the business of enlisting people into the US military. It really makes no sense to go to the Irish embassy to ask them to help him to get into the military. There isn't a thing they can do about that. It's US policy - and a very old one at that. Recruiters will say anything to get people to enlist and it's possible that a recruiter told him he could become a fighter pilot if he joined the Air Force. They're just used car salesmen and it's just an outright lie - that's very typical. So, if that actually happened, I'm not surprised. If your friend has a green card and an established residence here, the best he can do is enlist in a branch of the military here, but his green card has to be permanent. It can't be the conditional 2-year temporary card they first issue when you get your card because the term he'll enlist for is 4 years and the card has to be valid for the entire enlistment period. As an Irishman who visits Dublin regularly, I would suggest you take it all with a grain of salt and refer him to an immigration attorney to get answers, or just look it up online. It's really simple actually. The enlistment requirements are stated out there in black and white and haven't changed. The US military has beefed up recruiting efforts and has targeted foreigners for enlistment, but a green card is still required and they don't help anyone get a green card. There aren't many career opportunities in any expertise in Ireland. It's very competitive and the cost of living in Dublin is higher than San Francisco, so it's understandable that he'd want to stay here. But, if his expertise is being a fighter pilot, he'd probably stand a much better chance joining the armed forces in his country of origin rather than attempting to do it here, considering the path to citizenship is rather pain-staking. Anyway, give me a call sometime. It's been a long time and we should catch up! |