About
Helping lawful immigrants prepare for citizenship and assimilation into American society is in the best interest of our nation and has been a longstanding and proud tradition of The American Legion. The Americanism Commission encourages all Posts and Legionnaires to continue to foster and preserve the American ideals of freedom, justice, democracy, and individual rights by taking a leadership role in the community by providing a welcoming and trusted space for immigrant communities. By working together in helping lawful immigrants assimilate to our society, we strengthen our cities, states, and nation.
Non-Citizen U.S. Veterans
Many foreign-born, non-citizen U.S. veterans came here legally, joined the U.S. military and served honorably before being discharged believing that their time in service granted them automatic U.S. citizenship. They were never informed during their military careers or upon out-processing that they would still need to contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to go through the naturalization process.
Many across the nation are now out there, worried for themselves and their families, fearful of being deported after giving their sweat and blood for ours. As veterans, we owe it to our brothers and sisters to assist them in gaining citizenship.