FOREIGN-BORN SOLIDERS AND THE AMBIVALENT SPACES OF CITIZENSHIP by ELIZABETH LEE B.A., The University of California at Berkeley, 2001 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2006 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2012 © Elizabeth Lee, 2012 Abstract Foreign-Born Soldiers and the Ambivalent Spaces of Citizenship examines the interlocking politics of immigration and citizenship, labor and militarism, and race and gender. I explore two cases of militarized citizenship: Filipino recruits in the U.S. military and Nepalese Gurkha soldiers in the British Army. The bulk of the thesis engages the lives of Filipino migrants who enlist in the U.S. military as a collective pathway to American citizenship for themselves and their families. Filipino nationals comprise the highest percentage of foreign-born military recruits, a trend enabled by the fact that U.S. citizenship is not required to serve in the armed forces and promoted by the colonial history of the U.S. in the Philippines. Filipinos are the only foreign-born nationals permitted to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces without having to immigrate to the United States. Filipinos, in other words, are the exception to the permanent residency requirement necessary to join the U.S. military. Citizenship is, however, granted posthumously to any “alien” or “non-citizen national” whose death occurs on active duty, providing a legal “death dividend” for surviving relatives. I observe how the working lives of these migrants illuminate the new mobility of global (militarized) labor, a form of economic discipline facilitated by the state in the era of flexible accumulation. Over a period of twelve months, I conducted a series of in-depth interviews with Filipino military families in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the cases under study, the families of U.S. military personnel killed in action refused – in political protest – the offer of posthumous citizenship. These testimonies illuminate and juxtapose mundane and spectacular instances of state violence against agents of the state and their next of kin in a way that reveals conflicts inherent to incorporation and resistance internal to enlistment. ii Preface This research has been approved by the Behavioral Research Ethics Board. The certificate number is H08-01344. iii Table of Contents Abstract ………………………….…………………………………………………………...… ii Preface ……………………………………………………………………………………...….. iii Table of Contents ……………………………...……….………………………………...……. iv List of Figures ………………...………………………………..…………………….……....…. v Acknowledgements ………………………………………………........……………......…….. vii Dedication …………………………………………………………………………………...... viii 1 Race and the U.S. Military | An Introduction ………………………...……..….……. 1 2 The Historical Genealogies of Militarized Citizenship …………………...………… 20 3 Testimonies | The Stories of Military Widows Who Refused U.S. Citizenship ….... 65 4 When Bodies Come Home …………………………………………………..………. 105 5 Colonial Nostalgia and the Gurkha Battle for Citizenship in the United Kingdom ……………………………………………………………………………... 128 6 Humanitarian Parole and the Future of Territorial Belonging ……….....……….. 153 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………….…………… 182 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………….... 191 Appendix A: N-644 Application for Posthumous Citizenship ……………………….. 191 Appendix B: Interview Sample of Military Widows ………………………...........….. 192 Appendix C: List of Primary Interviews ……………………………………………… 193 iv List of Figures Figure 2.1 De Guzman. From military enlistment to militarized death …………...………...... 21 Figure 2.2 Countries of origin for foreign-born U.S. military personnel. Courtesy of USCIS Fact Sheet, graphic adapted by permission (2008) ………………………..…………………… 27 Figure 3.1 Filipino WWII veterans demand military benefits. Veterans Equity Center (2008) …………………………………………………………………………………………... 66 Figure 3.2 Filipino WWII veterans protest for equal treatment and rights. Veterans Equity Center (2008) ……………………………………………………………………..……………. 66 Figure 3.3 Luciano Basilan. Filipino WWII veteran still awaiting military benefits. Photograph by the Author (2008) …………………………………………………………………...………. 68 Figure 3.4 Gaudioso Galicia. Another Filipino WWII veteran still awaiting military benefits. Photograph by the Author (2008) ……………………………………………………………… 68 Figure 3.5 Manila Outpatient Clinic. Located on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ……...……………… 91 Figure 4.1 Photo of dead soldiers returning from Iraq. Offending image: Tami Silicio’s photograph of the coffins of American soldiers being secured inside a cargo plane at Kuwait airport for the trip home on the front page of The Seattle Times. Photograph by Tami Silicio (2004) …………………………………………………………………………….………..….. 114 Figure 4.2 Public witness the arrival of a dead soldier returning from war. Passengers aboard the commercial flight bringing home the body of 2nd Lt. Jim Cathey. They watch as his casket is unloaded by a Marine honor guard at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in October 2004. Photograph by Todd Heisler (2005) ………………………………………………..………… 122 Figure 5.1 Prince Harry accompanied by Gurkha battalion. Prince Harry appears with Gurkha soldiers while at the observation post on JTAC Hill in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Photograph courtesy of Getty Images (2008) ………………………………………...………. 136 Figure 5.2 Gurkhas compete in the annual doko race. A group of prospective Gurkhas run the doko race at Pokhara for enlistment into the British Army. Photograph by Graeme Robertson (2011) ………………………………………………………………………….….. 136 Figure 5.3 Gurkha soldiers return medals. Damber Ghaly, one of the Gurkha protesters at the rally who gave back six of his medals. Photograph courtesy of Matt Hickley (2008) ...…….. 147 Figure 5.4 Gurkha supporters at Gurkha Justice Campaign Rally. Photo courtesy of the BBC (2009) …………………………………………………………………………………….…… 148 Figure 5.5 Joanna Lumley celebrates Gurkha victory. Photo courtesy of Getty Images (2009) …………………………………………………………………………..…….. 151 v Figure 6.1 Gurkha “warriors.” Photo courtesy of the Associated Press (2008) ………..…… 157 Figure 6.2 Humanitarian parole adjudications by applicants’ country of residence, Fiscal Years 2002-2007. Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (2002-2007) .............................. 162 Figure 6.3 Francis and Jack Barrios. Photo courtesy of In Their Boots Productions (2010) ... 164 Figure 6.4 Countries of residence of humanitarian parole applicants, Fiscal Years 2002-2007. Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (2002-2007) ………………………………. 168 Figure 6.5 Approval and denial rates by gender, Fiscal Years 2002-2007. Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (2002-2007) …………………......................……………. 174 vi Acknowledgements This thesis emerged out of numerous discussions and collaborations across various landscapes, I can hardly call this my very own “original” work. I owe a great deal to so many. First and foremost, to the military families for giving life to this project. I am eternally grateful for their kindness and generosity. Many thanks to my dearest friends, for keeping me simultaneously focused and yet reminding me of the importance of being unfocused (at times). My deepest gratitude to Andrew Burridge, Lindsay Yee, Jenny Murphy, Christopher Smith, Natsumi Akatsuka, Judy Han, Jennifer Chun, Jenna Loyd, Priya Kandaswamy, Kathy and the entire Purcell Family for their patience and support. To Chupa, Luis Jackson, George, and Puca: they listened as I read aloud my thesis. Paws and hands, we wrote this together. To Ananya Roy and Nezar AlSaayad, for teaching me the importance of speaking truth to power. I am most deeply appreciative to Jared Sexton for asking some of the most challenging questions of my work and for reminding me about the love that is required in the project of freedom. I thank my colleagues at the University of British Columbia: Emily Jane Davis, Ted Rutland, Chris Harker, Caleb Johnston, Bonnie Kaserman, Juanita Sundberg, Jessica Dempsey, Pablo Mendez, Rosemary Collard, Jonathan Peyton, and Tyler Rebecca Pearce. A very special thanks to my thesis committee: Elvin Wyly for his generosity and kindness, Derek Gregory for laughter and guidance, and Geraldine Pratt, most especially: for mentorship, friendship, and for daily inspiration. It is rare to find a teacher without whom, one would not read, think, or love as one does. And finally, to my family for always being there. vii To my family viii Chapter 1 Militarized Citizenship | An Introduction What is the relation between a nation and its inhabitants, between a nation and its citizens, or between a nation and all the people from which it withholds its protections? What is citizenship and how is it established or lost, asserted, refused, or taken away (Cadava 2003: xv; see also Agamben 1998, 2005; Arendt 1979; Bosniak 1998; Holston 1999)? In this thesis, I ask the reader to think about what it means to live in nations in ways that are not yet, or no longer, defined by territorial citizenship and national belonging (Cadava 2003). I do this at the unlikely site of military service, where one would expect citizenship and territory to be most closely and formally aligned through the political infrastructure of contemporary nation-states. This thesis encompasses aspects of immigration and citizenship, labor and militarism, and race and gender. I explore