Green Card Soldier: Between Model Immigrant and Security Threat

An in-depth and troubling look at a little-known group of immigrants-non-citizen soldiers who enlist in the US military.

While the popular image of the US military is one of citizen soldiers protecting their country, the reality is that nearly five percent of all first-time military recruits are non-citizens. Their reasons for enlisting are myriad, but many are motivated by the hope of gaining citizenship in return for their service. In Green Card Soldier, Sofya Aptekar talks to over 70 non-citizen soldiers from 23 countries, including some who were displaced by conflict after the US military entered their homeland. She identifies a disturbing pattern: the US military’s intervention in foreign countries drives migration, which in turn supplies the military with a cheap and desperate labor pool-perpetuating the cycle.

As Aptekar discovers, serving in the US military is no guarantee against deportation, and yet the threat of deportation and the promise of citizenship are the stick and carrot used to discipline non-citizen soldiers. Viewed at various times as model minorities and security threats, these soldiers sometimes face intense discrimination from their native-born colleagues and superiors. Their stories-stitched through with colonial legacies, white supremacy, exploitation, and patriarchy-show how the tensions between deservingness and suspicion shape their enlistment, service, and identities. Giving voice to this little-heard group of immigrants, Green Card Soldier shines a cold light on the complex workings of US empire, globalized militarism, and citizenship.