Don’t overstay

The Herald reports:

A New Zealand-born man who served with the US Marine Corps for seven years but is now facing deportation says his only hope of a reprieve lies with either Congress or President Donald Trump stepping in. 

Paul Canton was born in Warkworth in 1971 and moved to Australia as a child. 

He first arrived in the United States at age 17 but overstayed his student exchange visa and instead enlisted in the US Marines on March 29, 1991.

Don’t overstay is a good piece of advice. He lived illegally for two to three years before enlisting. He should not have enlisted as he was not a US legal resident.

In 1998, after leaving the Marines, he settled in Florida, where he built a life, raised a family and voted for years believing he was a US citizen.

How could he believe he was a US citizen? Did he think it was a Xmas present? You don’t magically become a citizen by overstaying? Did he ever apply for citizenship? So really he voted illegally in scores of elections.

He claims he was told he would become a citizen after serving, but I call bullshit on that as it is against federal law for illegal aliens to enlist.

However, in 2019, he discovered he had never obtained citizenship, and a federal judge recently ruled he was ineligible because the conflict tied to his military service had ended before his active duty began.

Look I think they should have flexibility for cases like this, but I also think you shouldn’t overstay.