Last Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partnered with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to launch two new online programs that would assist the nation's many non-citizen service members and veterans, as well as their families.
One of the new services is a one-stop resource center that consolidates the services of various agencies such as DHS, VA, and the Department of Defense so that non-citizen veterans and service members can easily find any resource that they need.
The other service is a web portal to help removed veterans access entitled benefits and fill out return applications.
“These new resources are just the first step to help support non-citizen service members and their families who have made tremendous sacrifices for our country," said Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security.
“Veterans qualify for VA benefits based on their service to our country and never on their immigration status,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough. “We are proud to work with our partners at DHS and DoD to honor the service of immigrant and non-citizen Veterans by ensuring that they have access to information about the care and services available to them.”
Non-citizen service members and veterans may be eligible to apply for naturalization. Since 2002, United States Citizen and Immigration Services has naturalized over 148,000 service members.
