I hope I got your attention. http://www.military.com/news/article/law-says-marine-widow-cant-stay-in-us.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS
They were married by proxy after he shipped out overseas so his pregnant fiance could get medical benefits for the baby. The Marine Corps recognizes teh marriage as legit and gives them Survivorss benefits, but the INS staute on proxy marrriages says that if they couldnt consumate the marriage before he was KIA, the marriage doesn`t count.
Thier Representative, John Duncan TN, has written a private bill to let them stay in the US but it will die in committee unless it gets co-sposored in the Senate. So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEAASE write, call, or email your Senator and Representative. The bill is H.R.3182 ‘For the relief of Hotaru Nakama Ferschke’.
If wwe can give amnesty to people who sneak across the boarder in the dead of night, how can we kick a widow and child out of the country the father died serving?
so,the INS statute is what has to be changed through legislation.
there’s no point in getting emotional and angry over the individual case.
when and if anyone does write, they have to address that statute as being the problem.
they also have to recognize why that statute was ratified into law in the first place. was there a lot of abuse of the system with it, because young men do have a tendency to get girls pregnant and then dealing with that in a reactionary way.
Wearing your emotions on your sleeve is powerfully ineffective when dealing with getting laws changed. You can cry all day and it won’t change anything, but if you think, if you make a valid argument taht is difficult to rebut, then you are onto something.
nobody cares about the individuals circumstances. there has to be a reason why this statutes exists to begin with. Start there.
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;959963]so,the INS statute is what has to be changed through legislation.
there’s no point in getting emotional and angry over the individual case.
when and if anyone does write, they have to address that statute as being the problem.
they also have to recognize why that statute was ratified into law in the first place. was there a lot of abuse of the system with it, because young men do have a tendency to get girls pregnant and then dealing with that in a reactionary way.
Wearing your emotions on your sleeve is powerfully ineffective when dealing with getting laws changed. You can cry all day and it won’t change anything, but if you think, if you make a valid argument taht is difficult to rebut, then you are onto something.
nobody cares about the individuals circumstances. there has to be a reason why this statutes exists to begin with. Start there.[/QUOTE]
Exactly (except I didn’t see anyone crying). Make some noise, Americans.
The article is evasive. Whenever I see over dramatization that is the first clue that we are not hearing the entire story. It does not tell us where the child was born. I think there is a reason for that. Also it does not tell us the age of the woman in question. I’m going to assume she’s between 18-30. I sincerely doubt she is “alone” in Japan as was stated in the article.
In any case why should military receive more than anyone else? I have no problem with foreigners being in the United States. However the laws should be applied equally.
What I also find interesting is that the person writing the post is using this particular story as a weapon against immigration. There is no tie in here.
[QUOTE=BoulderDawg;959979]The article is evasive. Whenever I see over dramatization that is the first clue that we are not hearing the entire story. It does not tell us where the child was born. I think there is a reason for that. Also it does not tell us the age of the woman in question. I’m going to assume she’s between 18-30.[/quote]Over dramatization? There is the usual scene setting you see in any human interest article of this length. What does her age matter?
I sincerely doubt she is “alone” in Japan as was stated in the article.
…Because? (Not that it’s really relevant to the case, I suppose it is relevant to the article)
If a servicemember who is a U.S. citizen dies in the line of duty, foreign-born members of his or her family can now seek citizenship, even if they are not legal residents. This is also possible in cases in which the servicemember is made a citizen posthumously.
The naturalization process is still cumbersome. Fingerprints and photographs must be taken, and eligibility and background investigations completed. Applicants are interviewed and given a civics test.
However, military petitioners are moved to the front of the citizenship line. A process that takes a year for average aliens is reduced for non-citizen servicemembers, with the goal of having citizenship applications processed within 90 days, says Christopher Bentley, spokesman for the immigration service.
The naturalization process is “much easier and it’s free,” says Agnieszka Grzelczyk, 24, a Navy petty officer 3rd class who was born in Poland and naturalized at the Los Angeles Convention Center last Thursday with more than 8,400 people. She filed for citizenship in February, responding to the expedited immigration changes.
(From here.)
Given the above information, all they are doing is doubting the word of a man who died for his country and his reasons for marrying. I don’t think he planned to get killed, and the fact that the marriage was consummated (albeit in the wrong order!) should have bearing on the case. Marriage by proxy is accepted by US law pertaining to the military: the consummation is a ridiculous point, given that the job had been done and he never got the chance to do it again. It’s a badly written law, that should be rewritten for more leeway to soldiers who meet foreign residents in this kind of way more than others.
I think whether or not she’s alone and why is very relevant. I think there is a lot the public is not being told. If you’re under thirty with no family then something happened. In a few cases it will be because of death but most ot the time it’s because bridges have been burned
Anyway, why would a young girl. who can’t even speak the language. with a baby want to move to the US? I’m trying to imagine an American girl moving to a foreign country with a baby. Could money be involved? What do you think?
Also, let’s say 2 years from now she decides she wants to go home to Japan. Any bets on how the Grandparents will feel about her then?
[QUOTE=BoulderDawg;960051]Not at all. I’m just asking the questions that should be asked.[/QUOTE]
Kid was born in Okinawa - if he was born in the US they wouldn’t have made mention of both of them being here on a temporary visa.
The fact of the matter is that both of them would have a very hard time in Japan.
They got married via proxy for the health insurance - not that they had no intention of getting married, but obviously there’s an issue there that they weren’t getting enough help from the universal health care in japan.
There’s a lot of tension in Okinawa between certain sections of the population and the military.
There’s a very good chance the girl got kicked out of her family.
Okinawa’s the poorest of all the prefectures in Japan, with the highest high school dropout rate.
Her prospects in Japan are pretty daunting, single mothers don’t have it easy, especially one with a half kid.
The kid would really have a tough time in Japanese education system, being half and having no dad.
What’s wrong with a mom wanting to raise a kid in the home of his dead dad’s family?
…a home in a country that the dad loved enough to give his life in service for
…a dad the kid will never get to meet… kid deserves to know what he can of his dad & the American half of his heritage…
2 years later if she wants to go back to japan, well at least her inlaws got to know their grandson for a bit and hopefully formed a bond that the kid can maintain whether he’s in the country or not.
pops gave his life for this country, his wishes should be honored and it’s very clear that he wanted to be married & have a part in his kid’s life
i can’t believe we’re even discussing this
you seem to be severely lacking in what we call “the people skills”…
i can’t tell if you’re heartless or socially retarded…
I think you are probably mentally incapable of understanding my argument.
“pops gave his life for this country”
To start with I take issue with that statement. He was stupid enough to get tangled up in Bush’s war. He didn’t give his life for his country. In any way, what does that have to do with anything?
Personally I say let her stay. Of course give the girl from Mexico the same consideration when she’s here in the states pregant and alone.
Do not come at me with "Military personnel do not have to follow the same laws that we do.
There are regulations and rules for stuff like this, and it is the responsibility of the soldier to understand and comply with them. You can’t make an exception like this, because it’ll open the flood gates for massive fraud. The emotional argument is a compelling one, but it also requires us to disregard solid facts in favor of us feeling sad on the inside.
The soldier planned very VERY poorly, and due to his irresponsibility, his wife will be paying for it.
[QUOTE=1bad65;960208]Go with retarded. And he is a racist too.
Now if the wife and kid were pretending to be American Indians, he would recommend them for tenured professor positions in the US.[/QUOTE]
My, I must have really rattled your cage! Not surprising. When you run out of valid arguments the name calling and the attacks begin.
By the way I thought this thread was about a Japanese girl wanting to remain in the country. Isn’t there rules about hijacking a thread? If you want to talk about something else then start your own thread.
[QUOTE=BoulderDawg;960093]I think you are probably mentally incapable of understanding my argument.
“pops gave his life for this country”
To start with I take issue with that statement. He was stupid enough to get tangled up in Bush’s war. He didn’t give his life for his country. In any way, what does that have to do with anything?
Personally I say let her stay. Of course give the girl from Mexico the same consideration when she’s here in the states pregant and alone.
Do not come at me with "Military personnel do not have to follow the same laws that we do.[/QUOTE]
you take issue with a guy joining the military to advance his opportunities for the future?
do you know what percentage of the population has done that and gone on to become productive members of society?
or you only think people should do that when it’s safe & happy with no wars, at least no wars you disagree with…
you don’t have to love your president/government to love your country.
you obviously don’t love either, and i’m glad there are folks out there different enough from you that are willing to put their lives on the line for something to believe in.
“he didn’t give his life for his country” - i dare you to go to any VFW, with your soap box and make that claim, good luck getting out of there alive.
ummm plenty of mexican citizens come here every year to give birth solely for the purpose of making their children US citizens. this country’s immigration policy is a joke. Anybody who sneaks across the border gets welfare, schooling, and healthcare; but skilled folks (many even college graduates) who go through the system properly but can’t find a company to pony up tens of thousands of dollars for work visas are basically kicked out of the country.
i don’t see what “dangerous precedent” this starts. If a US citizen has a kid while serving military service, that kid should be a citizen no if, ands, or buts. If he marries someone but is forced away from home due to the requirements of the job, that should be taken into account when dealing with his widow.
Not surprising. When you run out of valid arguments the name calling and the attacks begin.