Florida veteran hopes Biden can help him win citizenship fight

TAMPA, Florida – “I am disheartened that the law of the country in which I served does not take into account my military service or extenuating circumstances,” Paul Canton said of recent court rulings that leave the former U.S. Marine on the losing side of his five-year fight for citizenship.

Canton said he was recruited into the military three decades ago under false promises of American citizenship and spent the past five years fighting for his right to stay in the United States until he discovered he was not in the country legally.

“I gave the government a blank check for my body until I die, and the agreement will give me citizenship when I get out,” he told us from his home near Ocala.

After his citizenship application and appeal were twice rejected, Canton decided to take his case to federal court last year. But last month, a federal judge dismissed two of three charges Canton had brought against the federal government.

The judge essentially ruled that the courts had no jurisdiction to decide who the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should grant or deny a naturalization application to.

“We have not asked for anything other than what we have already earned,” Canton said.

The issue is when Canton enlisted in the U.S. Marines and when he served. Canton was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia.

Under federal immigration law, aliens who have served honorably during a period of hostilities are eligible to apply for citizenship after their discharge.

Although Canton enlisted during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, he was not called to active duty until shortly after the end of that period of hostilities.

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“We shouldn't even be having this conversation where we're cutting our hair to find out when this Marine served. The point is that he served, and he served honorably,” said Elizabeth Ricci, a Tallahassee-based immigration attorney who is handling Canton's case pro bono.

Ricci recently filed an amended federal complaint in court, hoping that this latest effort could help Canton become a naturalized citizen. Ricci believes not only that Canton is being wrongfully denied citizenship despite having honorably served in the American armed forces, but also that Canton was illegally recruited into the military because his visa had expired by the time he enlisted.

“Why does the military let people in who are not fit for duty, and then when they do, why don't they make it up to these veterans when they find out they are undocumented? This is a total travesty. This is a joke,” Ricci said of the country's broken immigration system and the lack of communication between the immigration system and the U.S. military.

After we told Canton's story, Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida expressed interest in helping Canton become a citizen.

“Because Mr. Canton served in the Marine Corps for eight years and was abandoned by the United States of America despite being brave enough to defend it, he should be treated like royalty in this country,” Castor told investigative reporter Katie LaGrone last month.

Canton, who is considered stateless because he lost his Australian citizenship when he joined the U.S. military, recently began writing letters to the White House in the hope of getting the attention of President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration has supported several efforts to make it easier for foreign veterans to return to the United States and obtain U.S. citizenship after serving America honorably but being deported.

When asked what Canton hopes to achieve from the president, he replied: “An executive order granting me citizenship so I can put this behind me. I don't have a country. I don't really understand why this big fight and this big pressure is denying me what I've already earned.”