U.S.A. | Conflict | Hispanic Soldiers

There are 37,000 non-U.S. citizens serving as soldiers in the U.S. military. Most are latinos, migrants from Mexico and Central America. They sign up in recruiting offices for the same reasons they first cross the border: to escape grinding poverty and gamble on a better life. Some have been awarded citizenship only after their deaths on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

They take the same risks and make the same sacrifices as the American soldiers they fight along side,...
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There are 37,000 non-U.S. citizens serving as soldiers in the U.S. military. Most are latinos, migrants from Mexico and Central America. They sign up in recruiting offices for the same reasons they first cross the border: to escape grinding poverty and gamble on a better life. Some have been awarded citizenship only after their deaths on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

They take the same risks and make the same sacrifices as the American soldiers they fight along side, but without the full benefits of democracy. They can't vote for their President or a congressional representative. The same holds true for the 10,000 soldiers from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico who hold U.S. passports, but are barred from participating in federal elections and politics.
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