Citizenship Lost : Ex-Navy Man Struggles to Regain Rights in U.S.

Robert Van Patten is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a missionary in his church and the father of four children born in this country, but that’s still not enough to make him an American citizen.

Although Van Patten said he has lived in the United States for more than 30 years, the 51-year-old native of the Philippines learned in 1986 that serving your country doesn’t always make you a legal resident.

“I spent six years in the Navy only to find that I am not considered an official American of this country some 20 years later,� the Riverside man said Monday. “In the Philippines, I was considered an American because my mother was born to American parents.�

Over the last three years, Van Patten said he has tried to retrieve the citizenship he believes was wrongfully taken from him. “I am holding my ground about that. I’ve always been an American citizen, and that was taken away from me without notice. Why do I have to go through all of this to get it back?�

But U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials say Van Patten has failed to provide the necessary documents.

Van Patten acknowledges that in 1955, while still living in the Philippines, he received a letter from the American Consulate stating that the U.S. government recognized him as a citizen at that time, but he would have to re-register within two years to remain so.

Van Patten said that when he enlisted in the Navy later that year, he thought that automatically made him a U.S. citizen.

It didn’t.

After being stationed in Pasay, Philippines, at the beginning of his tour of duty, he was transferred to Long Beach, where he eventually got married and received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1961.

During the next 20 years, Van Patten voted in every election, served jury duty and even traveled out of the country to Mexico with his church missionary group.

It wasn’t until he tried to get a passport to visit his ailing mother in the Philippines in 1986 that Van Patten said he learned that he wasn’t a legal resident.

“My mother had broken her hip, so I was anxious to get there,� he recalled. “But right after applying for the passport, I got a letter from the U.S. government saying I was not a citizen because my mother had failed to establish her citizenship through her American parents.�

Van Patten immediately began seeking ways to have his citizenship returned and requested his military records from the Veterans Administration office in hopes that they would prove his citizenship.

“Actually, they didn’t prove a lot,� Van Patten said. “Just when I joined and that my mother gave consent for me to enlist.�

Next, he contacted the INS in Los Angeles, where he was told that although he was an illegal alien, he could regain his legal status by applying through his American-born wife.

A few months later, the Van Pattens received word from the INS that her petition to get her husband’s visa was approved but forwarded to the consulate in Tijuana because an applicant must reside in his native country or a Third World country before the application can be processed.

“Basically they told me to leave here and go to Tijuana and try to come back,� Van Patten said. “But that could have taken anywhere from two minutes to two years. I could not take that chance.�

Van Patten’s next stop was Rep. George Brown (D-Riverside), whose aides suggested that the machine operator try for citizenship through his American-born father. But Van Patten had no official paper work stating that the man he considers his father, Leonard Ferday Smith, was ever married to his mother or was really his father.

Van Patten has hope after being told by INS officials that, because he has lived in the United States since 1972, he could qualify for legal status under the registry clause of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

“I just hope that this is it, the one piece of good luck I’ve been waiting for,� Van Patten said.