Fit To Die For The U.S But Unqualified To Scan Groceries?

Question

I'm British and married to an American in the U.S Airforce
In theory I could sign up for active duty even though I am not a U.S national, yet I can't lawfully work in the commissary because "It's a federal job and your not American"

How crazy is it that? I could die for the U.S but I am not permitted to scan your groceries?

What's the worst that could happen? I speak fluent English!

AIM-Yes in theory. Do you think both my husband and I should go to Iraq? Are you going to take care of our kids if one or both of didn't return?

Bigmuddie-I didn't know that, thanks for sharing :-)

Thanks for all the insightful answers!
I still think it's crazy but I appreciate where you are coming from, most of you ;-)

Janie-great point! Never thought of that.

Answer 1

I feel for you. I spent 24 years in the U.S. Military and I was never aware of citizenship requirement to work in the commissarry. This doesn't sound right, but if it is really a federal requirement then it's a bad policy and most unfair for you and others in similar situation. I would encourage your spouse to contact the appropriate member of congress to remedy this flawed policy..

Answer 2

Ugh, more knee-jerk reaction of the "America sux" variety. This is getting a little old, I swear.

Okay, how is this an AMERICAN issue? How would it work in the UK if the roles were reversed? Last I heard, getting a permit to work in the UK was far from an easy matter, and immigrating to the UK from outside the Commonwealth is horrendously difficult. Look at France, too: you can't scan French groceries either, but the Foreign Legion will gladly take you (provided you meet the physical requirements).

Besides, your question is misleading in other ways. I presume you've already gotten your green card, correct? Or at least a temporary work authorization? With those, you CAN work in the US -- the problem here is that you want to take a job with the federal government. Yes, many federal jobs are reserved for US citizens. This does not mean that you cannot work for a private US employer. Not only this restriction not unique to the US, but American laws in this regard are actually rather lax -- in Mexico, for example, to get a government job, not only do you have to be a citizen, but you must be native-born, too. Why don't you try getting a job in a private business? And by the way, what ARE the citizenship requirements for getting a job with the British government?

Kudos on being fluent in English, by the way.

Answer 3

"In theory"?

edit: no, I do not think both you and your husband should go to Iraq. You've taken my two-word response and really run with it.

You're question is in a sense hypothetical. I'm sorry you didn't get the job at the commissary. It IS a federal job, on an American base. ARE you signing up for active duty? You're taking this a bit to the extreme with the dying vs. scanning groceries thing. No offense but a simple solution is to go find a different job.

BTW I get a kick out of those who are applauding the fact that you speak fluent English. Isn't it your native language? They must've missed the tidbit about your being British.

Anyway have a nice day.

Answer 4

Volunteering for military service is a path to citizenship. Working in the commissary is not. If citizenship were not a requirement for federal jobs, there could be illegals working in sensitive areas that could harm national security. Although I do agree with you that being a clerk in the commissary is stretching the point quite a bit.

Being married to a U.S. serviceman should make you a legal immigrant with a green card, working towards citizenship and able to work at a job like that. I hardly think that there are any national security issues working with groceries. I would think that you have a case to pursue should you choose to do so.

Write to the Congress-creature of the district in which you live and see if he/she can do anything for you.

Answer 5

For the military we take pretty much every decent person we can get, because we can always use more people in our military. But there's no shortage of people who want to scan groceries in the US. China alone has a billion of them, and we don't have room for all of them. So we can afford to be more picky for that. It's strange in one sense, but it's understandable in another sense.

It's not about security risks, as some people have suggested. Obviously letting bad people in the military can be a security risk too.

Answer 6

Even in England people have a hard time in finding a job. This happens everywhere in the world.

You forgot that the Gurkhas fought for the British, your country, only to be taken for granted. They are the equivalent of the French Foreign Legion that employ a lot of non-French to do the dirty work of France.

It is called a double standard

Answer 7

Well it goes back to
I am old enough to die for my country but not old enough to drink.

I can I'm 26 but that the old way of looking at it. Heck In the states you get fried for drinking under age in the military which is 21. However if you are stationed in Germany you can drink underage. So in the states I get an article 15 but here I wouldn't isn't that a load of bull.

Answer 8

You need to talk to your husband's company commander. When I was in I knew of more then a few foreigner nationals married to American service men that worked on post in all kinds of jobs. In most cases all they needed to work was to prove their spouse was a service member. But in some cases it took a little work from the higher ups.

Answer 9

Being ex-military I have seen the other side of this problem. While being stationed in England, Americans were not allowed to legally work anywhere in the U.K. if there was any other British citizen who wanted the job. This was a result of the high unemployment rate in the U.K. at the time. This is kind of a tit-for-tat law that happens when one country excludes non-citizens from working.

Answer 10

it's a security issue,plain and simple. anyone who works on base has access to areas of said base where they do not work. therefore, in the interest of security, Citizenship is required. there have been incidents in the past where non citizens who had access to US military installations caused harm because they had access to the base.