By Elizabeth Ricci, Esq., Rambana & Ricci, PLLC
Paul John Canton is a 48-year-old former Marine who is now stateless. The Summerfield, Florida resident was born in New Zealand, which does not grant birthright citizenship, and was raised in Australia. He came to the USA at 17 and enlisted in the Marines in 1991. The Marines were well aware he was not eligible to enlist without a Green Card or USA citizenship, but recruited him anyway.
His active service started seven months after Enduring Freedom ended and so he did not technically serve during a Designated Period of Hostility (and is not, therefore, eligible for citizenship under an exemption for non-Green Card holders). Paul received the National Defense Medal, Letter of Appreciation, Service Employment Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and Rifle Marksman Badge while in service.
He always believed he was a US citizen, registered to vote, voted eight times and otherwise held himself out as a citizen. He went to renew his Florida Driver License last fall, and learned he had no immigration status whatsoever so he filed for citizenship which was denied by the Orlando USCIS office solely because of his voting record. In fact, his interviewing officer was very condescending and told him “I don’t know how you got into the country; I don’t know how you got into the military; and I don’t know why you are still here”. He has no criminal history and is now being barred from naturalizing and subject to deportation. He is stateless because he joined the US military, which caused him to lose his Australian citizenship. His appeal is pending.
The case is an example of how complicated immigration law is, even for our military.
Even more important is the lesson that US military service does not convey citizenship. This type of case is not uncommon. The problem is that vets like Canton do not find out they are not citizens until they’ve already voted and then USCIS gets it wrong. With more than 500,000 foreign born vets alive today, it is suspected this problem is widespread—as in that many thousands (about 10,000) of people are in the same position just for having voted.
Elizabeth Ricci was named the “go to attorney” for vets. She represents Paul Canton at no charge.