Takano Hopes To Improve Pathway To Citizenship For U.S. Service Members, Veterans

In the midst of a looming government shutdown, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) reintroduced a bipartisan bill last week that would provide a pathway to citizenship for both United States veterans and active duty service members.

The proposed bill, the Veteran Service Recognition Act, would allow noncitizen service members to apply for citizenship during basic training. It would also allow U.S. veterans who have been deported or who have a deportation order to apply for legal residency if they have not been convicted of a serious crime. 

“If you are willing to raise your right hand, put on the uniform and defend this country, you should have a clear path to citizenship,” Takano said in a statement. “The Veteran Service Recognition Act makes good on that promise, and it gives us a way to bring home veterans who served honorably but were deported.”

According to a 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service, there are an estimated 115,000 noncitizen veterans across the country, approximately 40% of whom served in the military in the past two decades. Riverside County also has the third largest population of veterans in the state, nearly 30% of whom identify as Hispanic or Latino.

James Saenz, a retired colonel and president of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance, said that his organization strongly supported the bill. Although the pathway to citizenship has been available for service members, he said, the opportunity and process have not been effectively communicated.

“Too many veterans have been deported for minor offenses and bureaucratic failures, which cuts them off from their [Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)] care and the benefits for which they earned,” Saenz said. “So it’s important, and especially to our Hispanic community, since nearly one in five service members today are Hispanic and many come from migrant families, that offering a clear path to citizenship strengthens recruitment, retention and morale.” 

Currently, the U.S. offers two expedited pathways for citizenship for immigrant service members. During peacetime, service members can start the naturalization process after one year of service. If they serve during a qualifying period of war, active duty service members can apply for citizenship immediately. 

However, Immigrant Defenders Law Center’s legal services director Amanda Schuft said the expedited process has been difficult for service members to navigate. 

The organization works with repatriating deported noncitizen veterans, including many who faced combat and were subsequently injured. Some of the veterans Schuft has worked with returned from their service with PTSD and chose to self-medicate, which led to a criminal offense and deportation, she said. 

A 2023 study on the health impacts of deportation on noncitizen veterans, overseen by Ann Cheney, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, found that the dozen former service members interviewed felt betrayed by the country, though many said they would serve again, remaining loyal to the United States. 

The study also found that the veterans often experienced homelessness and struggled with securing employment. To cope with their situation, some of them also turned to substances, the study found.

Schuft added that joining the military was also a major life transition, making it harder for service members to focus on submitting the paperwork required for naturalization.

“It’s very complicated, especially if you don’t have a lawyer, especially if you’re not used to doing these administrative processes, and again, especially if you’re an 18-year-old,” she said. “So knowing that, and knowing that our government is making promises to these people, they need to be putting procedures in place to make sure it happens.”

Takano first proposed the bill in 2022. At that time, the House of Representatives approved the legislation, but the Senate failed to vote on it. The following year, the bill failed to make it out of committee.

Though the fate of the bill is currently in limbo due to the ongoing government shutdown, Takano’s staff said the congressman hopes to build support for the proposal once the shutdown ends.