OneAmerica honors veterans of the United States armed forces and their commitment to defending American values of human rights and equal justice. OneAmerica also recognizes the vital contributions immigrants have made to the armed services throughout U.S. history. Nationally, more than 70,000 immigrants (noncitizens and naturalized citizens) are serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, according to the 2008 American Community Survey. In Washington State, immigrants make up about six percent of the total number of those serving in the armed forces. 
Veterans from across Washington State are still facing barriers to citizenship while others who have become citizens face enormous immigration backlogs after years of trying to unite with their families. For example, Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry – a veteran of the Army National Guard living in Yakima with his wife, a U.S. citizen – is wheelchair-bound due to injuries suffered while on active duty prior to his deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Not only did the government recently deny him U.S. citizenship for failing to disclose 13-year-old misdemeanor charges from Australia, but has placed him in deportation proceedings. In a case illustrating the problems with family unification, Benito Valdez moved to Seattle in 1992 and was granted citizenship along with other Filipino World War II veterans in recognition of his military service. However, the 85-year-old veteran has been waiting ever since to bring his children to the U.S. due to a tremendous immigration backlog.
After his 24 years of service in the U.S. Navy, OneAmerica member Rick Covington did not stop fighting for a country where every person can work and live with dignity. In early 2009, his friend Elizabeth Ruiz – an undocumented immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico – was unjustly arrested and detained for two months in a Tacoma detention center. Along with other supportive community members, Covington helped start a petition in her support in Vancouver, Wash., organized a group of more than 100 people to raise funds for a lawyer, and testified at a hearing for Ruiz. At the hearing, Covington told the judge that “it would be an honor equal to my receiving the U.S. Navy’s meritorious service medal to be Elizabeth’s sponsor for naturalization as an American citizen.”
On Oct. 13, 2009, Covington spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., along with members of Congress, in support of comprehensive immigration reform. The full text of his speech is now available here and video of his speech is here. Immigration reform – which President Obama and leaders in the House and Senate have indicated will be debated late this year or early next year – would affect all segments of the immigrant population, including those serving in the military and veterans.
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