WWII Veteran’s Quest for Citizenship Put on Hold

A 68-year-old U.S. Army veteran was told Monday that he must wait 90 days for a court decision that could determine whether he can become a U.S citizen based on his service during World War II.

U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson refused to rule on the case brought by Gregorio Calantas Rivera, saying there are two similar case before the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the ruling on those cases could bear on Rivera’s suit.

A native-born Filipino, Rivera renounced his Philippines’ citizenship in November, when Thompson administered an oath and declared Rivera a citizen of the United States based on his service to this country.

However, two months later, Rivera was asked to voluntarily give up his U.S. citizenship because officials at the Immigration and Naturalization Service had made a mistake and allowed him to become a citizen under a law that applied to U.S. veterans from other countries--but not from the Philippines.

INS attorney Alan Rabinowitz said a similar law for Filipino veterans expired in December of 1946, and there is no longer a law under which Rivera can become a U.S. citizen based on his military service.

When Rivera refused to relinquish his U.S. citizenship, Thompson ordered it revoked in January.

Thompson said he would decide Rivera’s case based on the Court of Appeals’ decision--which is expected within 90 days--or he would use that decision as a guideline for Rivera. Thompson did not say which cases he considered similar to Rivera’s, and neither Rabinowitz nor Sana Loue, Rivera’s attorney, was familiar with the cases.

Rivera said that although he was disappointed that Thompson did not rule in his favor, he remained optimistic that the Court of Appeals will give him the victory.

“I still hope and have faith that we will triumph,” Rivera said outside the federal courthouse. “My not having a country was a mistake not of my own error. I am greatly disappointed.”

Rabinowitz said after the judge’s decision that Rivera probably would not be deported if the court rules that he cannot become a citizen based on his military record. There are other options Rivera could use to remain in the United States and reapply for citizenship, he said.

Although Thompson refused to decide Rivera’s case, he did rule that a 1942 request by Rivera to become a U.S. citizen was not legally valid and could not be used as evidence in his recent case.

While still a soldier, Rivera made an oral request for U.S. citizenship. However, the request never reached INS offices because the commanding officer who received it died during the Bataan Death March--a 55-mile march during which about 10,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war died at the hands of Japanese soldiers. Rivera survived because he escaped into the jungle.

Under laws in effect in 1942, Rivera’s request for citizenship was virtually assured of approval because he was a U.S. soldier, INS attorneys said. Proof of the request would greatly increase Rivera’s chances of citizenship today, but Thompson ruled that it was not a valid application because it never reached INS officials, and Rivera has no way of verifying that the request was ever made.