Eighteen Navy sailors based in the San Diego area were sworn in Friday as U.S. citizens, the largest naturalization of its kind since the war in Iraq began.
As the uniformed men and women from the Philippines, Nigeria, Mexico, Belize and six other countries recited their oaths, federal magistrate Anthony Battaglia noted that some are headed overseas, possibly to the Middle East.
"Our freedoms were gained by the sacrifice of many citizens," Battaglia said. "You are truly the types of patriots we all aspire to be."
The proceeding came amid a growing discussion nationwide of the contributions made by so-called green card soldiers.
Officials reported Friday that six California immigrants killed in the Iraq conflict have now been granted posthumous citizenship. Several federal lawmakers have introduced legislation that would expedite the naturalization process for foreign-born soldiers.
In all, more than 37,000 members of the armed forces are noncitizens, a figure that has grown by nearly a third in the last three years. Nearly one in three green card volunteers come from California.
Like those granted citizenship Friday, the largest number of foreign nationals volunteer for the Navy, in part, officials say, because it is the one service that does not limit how long noncitizens can serve. The Army allows noncitizens to serve only a maximum of nine years.
Citing the war on terrorism, President Bush signed an executive order last July that eliminated a three-year waiting period and made service personnel immediately eligible for citizenship.
Several participants in Friday's ceremony said they had taken advantage of that program. Immigration officials said the proceeding was planned around the same time as the start of the war in Iraq.
"It feels really good," said Luis Arias, 19, who emigrated from Cuba in 1996 to be with family members in Florida and joined the Navy two years ago. He and his family always dreamed of being together in America, to escape the Castro regime.
"It's hard [in Cuba]. You can't really speak your mind," said Arias, who is assigned to an assault ship that may be headed for the Middle East.
Obtaining citizenship took him just five months under the fast-track program. "I think people in the service deserve it," he said.
Advocates for stricter immigration controls applaud the sacrifice of noncitizens fighting in Iraq, but say they are concerned about fast-tracking such soldiers through the citizenship process.
