LOUIS-JEAN “Had America gone to war with Haiti while I was on active duty it would have been my obligation as a Marine to fight against Haiti. Assuming they had the forces to fight against us, I would have to fight against my own country in pledge of allegiance to America but yet with all this you’re going to tell me that with all this, I’m never going to qualify for citizenship.”

GLANTZ You’re listening to “The War Comes Home,” Warcomeshome.org, a project of KPFA Radio. I’m Aaron Glantz.

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GLANTZ In 2003, Philippe Louis-Jean served as part of the initial invasion of Iraq – in the 1st Battalion 5th Marines Weapons Company, which took heavy fire as it secured one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. When he returned to Camp Pendleton he thought he’s days of danger were over. Then his commanding officer called immigration.

LOUIS-JEAN “He stepped out of his jurisdiction and called the immigration officials and told them ‘hey I have this Marine here. I want you look over his records and you know, come arrest him if you can. And that’s exactly what happened. He had me come sit in his office that day for about two and a half days before the immigration came. I wasn’t afraid because I felt – hey – I haven’t done anything wrong so what could they possibly be up to. Sure enough, I saw some detectives pull up in a standard detective car. … And then what came to my mind was like, okay, what is they’re trying to do. So now these officers go into the first sergant’s office and talk to him and then they call me in there.”

GLANTZ Phillipe Louis-Jean was born in Haiti but moved to the Untied States at age 5 and grew up in Brooklyn. He joined the Marine Corps straight out of High School and assumed he was already on track to be a US citizen.

LOUIS-JEAN “The immigration officer introduced himself and said he was going to arrest me because I am deportable. I laughed. Ha, ha. Both my parents are citizens. I have a Green Card. I’m a combat veteran. And my parents were citizens before I attained the age of 18 so I don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s like – I looked into your records and so on and you are deportable and you are under arrest. I was like you’re joking right and he said I’m sorry I’m not joking. And that was that. He put me in hand-cuffs, paraded me around my barracks, which is like an apartment building where all of us military guys like, paraded me upstairs for a while so we could get my paperwork, paraded me back down through the parking lot so everyone could see me and put my in the car, while my wife was in the hotel waiting for me.”

GLANTZ Immigration officials told Louis-Jean he could be deported because he’d cheated on his wife. In 2002, Camp Pendleton officials had caught him having sex with another woman, charged him with sodomy and adultery and sentenced him to 37 days in the military brig. … It was a small infraction did not prevent the Marine Corps from sending him on a tour to Iraq.
But immigration officials said the crime was serious enough to deport Louis Jean and he was incarcerated San Diego Correctional Facility, a private prison run by Corrections Corporation of America.

LOUIS-JEAN “I was shocked that they would actually have a combat veteran in immigration prison, you know. It was mind-boggling to me and everybody kinda shrugged their shoulders and said ‘Oh well. What’s so special about you? Yes, you were almost shot. Yes, you were almost blown up but who cares?’”

GLANTZ Ten months after he was thrown into San Diego Correctional Facility – the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed the case against Phillipe Louis-Jean on a technicality and he was released from prison a free man.
Now Phillipe Louise Jean attends community college classes in Southern California. He wants to eventually transfer to UC Berkeley to get a Masters in Business Administration. But because of his court martial for adultery, the Iraq war veteran can never become a US citizen.

LOUIS-JEAN “Had America gone to war with Haiti while I was on active duty it would have been my obligation as a Marine to fight against Haiti. Assuming they had the forces to fight against us, I would have to fight against my own country in pledge of allegiance to America but yet with all this you’re going to tell me that with all this, I’m never going to qualify for citizenship. There should be no reason whatsoever once someone pledges to join the military there should be no reason whatsoever that that person cannot attain citizenship.”

GLANTZ So Louis-Jean is looking at the possibility leaving the United States – possibly for Canada or Australia…. Even though he still considers himself an American.

LOUIS-JEAN “Once I get my MBA, I will most likely move to Canada, attain a Green Card and become a citizen. Only after that will I move to America and only after that will I have a bit more comfort knowing that should anything happen, if they do try to deport me, I’ll get deported to Canada as opposed to Haiti, a country that’s in political turmoil for as long as I can remember and where they’ll probably try to kill me because of what I’ve done in the military in America. There’s no ifs, ands or bones, about it. I am going to have to try to get citizenship somewhere different.”

GLANTZ Pentagon officials estimate there are now about 35,000 non-citizens serving in the U.S. military.
You’re listening to the War Comes Home, warcomeshome.org, a project of KPFA Radio. I’m Aaron Glantz.