95 yr old WWII vet discovers he’s not a U.S. citizen

[The Straight Story]

WWII vet discovers he’s not a U.S. citizen


Ninety-five-year-old Leeland Davidson discovered recently that he's not considered a U.S. citizen, despite living nearly 100 years in the country and serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

Davidson, from Centralia, Washington, told KOMO News that he discovered he wasn't a U.S. citizen when he was turned down for an enhanced driver's license he needed for a trip to Canada to visit relatives.

"We always figured because he was born to U.S. parents he's automatically a U.S. citizen," said Davidson's daughter, Rose Schoolcraft.

Davidson was born in British Columbia in 1916, but his parents didn't register the birth with the U.S. government to ensure they knew he was a citizen. He checked up on his citizenship before joining the Navy and was told by an inspector at the U.S. Department of Labor Immigration and Naturalization Service he had nothing to worry about. Now he worries that he won't be able to prove his citizenship, because his parents were born in Iowa before local governments started keeping records of birth certificates in 1880. "I want it squared away before I pass away," he says.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110324/us_yblog_thelookout/wwii-vet-discovers-hes-not-a-u-s-citizen

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Enhanced drivers licence for 95 year old? Take greyhound

[MineralMan]

2. Actually, he's going to use it lieu of a passport to enter

Canada and return. I doubt he's driving there, but you need either a passport or one of those enhanced IDs to go back and forth.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. ahhh... makes sense

[CTyankee]

3. Seriously. My mother gave up driving around the age of 85.

She drove into a tree (thinking the car was in drive when it was in reverse). It injured her sister and she said that was it, no more driving for her. She was horrified that it even slightly injured her sister...would that more elderly drivers would have my mother's ethical and moral sensitivity...

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. my mom had to give up driving about age 78 (dementia)

[pinboy3niner]

4. Well, deport his ass then! RIGHT F'ING NOW!1!!

:sarcasm:

[Liberal Veteran]

6. He'll probably get better health care if they do.

Sad, but true.

[area51]

22. +1

At least health care is a basic human right there.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Amazing, he was told he had nothing to worry about

when he was going to join the Navy...during wartime. They would say anything to find able bodies to fight for the country then just like they still do.

I hope that he can get this straightened out.

[Swede Atlanta]

8. Deport him....frigging alien taking murkan jobs

He needs to be immediately deported but detained in a concentration camp while his case is pending.......

Good grief...he served our nation. He is more deserving of U.S. citizenship than Bush, Cheney or any of the other chickenhawks including Newt the Lizard Gingrich.

[CTyankee]

9. 1,000+

Of course!

[Alameda]

10. I know of another case, born during the Influenza epidemic

He was delivered at home because there was no place in the hospital, his doctor died of the influenza before he could register the birth. Was in WWII, told no problem. In fact he didn't know there was any question until he went to get a passport to take a out of the country trip. He had to get others to swear for him. I'm not sure what would happen now. He has no birth certificate. There are probably many thousands of cases like this.

[pinboy3niner]

11. They're being deported today. See "Banished Veterans" link:

http://www.banishedveterans.info/

[Alameda]

12. OMG! This is horrible and must stop.

[pinboy3niner]

13. DUer SargeUNN has done work--and radio interviews--on this issue

Here's a link to his post on it in the Veterans Forum last September:

Banished Veterans
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=259x29652

[bullwinkle428]

14. Peter King wants to hold a hearing, and Steve King wants to deport him!

[kenny blankenship]

15. Hopefully a US President has the ability to make this right and expedite the process.

[pampango]

16. That sounds like you are suggesting "AMNESTY"!

;) Just wanted to throw in a little right wing scare language to stir the pot.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. OMG!! He's ILLEGAL!!

[Darth_Kitten]

18. stay Canadian, enjoy the Health care.

:hide: :)

[whistler162]

19. So he has never voted?

the application is just a formality since he served in WWII in the US military, unless he has a long criminal record. Which is unlikely.

[hobbit709]

20. Two years ago I had to renew my driver's license.

and found out that my "citizenship status" was in question. I didn't know it was a citizen license instead of a driver's license.
It took 3 trips down to the license office. I had to get my mother to send me all the papers she had. I had to produce my original birth certificate from Austria(in German), the original notarized English translation thereof, the State Department form DS-1350, and so forth.
And then they still quibbled. When I pointed out that I had served in the United States Air Force and had a Top Secret clearance without all this crap, their response was how did you get your license without all this.
I said that back in 1974 when I got my first driver's license in TX they didn't want all this crap.
They had to call in TWO stuporvisors to the counter to finally approve it.

[rusty fender]

21. Dang, just as he was about to announce

a presidential exploratory committee!:cry:

[ecstatic]

25. Is he a birther?

And I hate to judge, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for him to have a license anyway. :hide: