Happy 85th Birthday - Vietnam Veteran Tony Rose - Who Underwent A 4 Year Citizenship Search

Tony Rose recites the Pledge of Allegiance with some of his friends during his naturalization ceremony as a U.S. citizen in Hastings at the Veterans Home where he resides.  (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)

Editors Note:  After an over four-year battle with the Departments of Immigration, Homeland Security and Social Security, the U.S. government finally conceded Tony Rose, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam era and worked in this country for 40 years,  never left the country, is an American citizen and could finally draw his Social Security pension.

TWIN CITIES PIONEER PRESS By Nick Ferraro 

November 19, 2009

"Tony Rose said he now feels a sense of gratification.  And who can blame him? His over 4-year crusade for Social Security benefits is over — and he won.

Rose, a longtime chef and baker said things started to go his way because of Stella Mednik, a New York immigration attorney who  worked on his behalf at no charge for 17 months"

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"At a ceremony at the Hastings Minnesota Veterans Home, where he lives, Rose, was presented with a naturalization certificate and, more important, he said, given the assurance that his benefits would begin.

"I know it took a long time, but congratulations,” Sharon Dooley, director of the St. Paul office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, said to Rose, shortly after she handed him the certificate.

“I’m glad it’s over and done with,” Rose replied.

The certificate, which lists his age and when he entered the United States, is the proof that will get the ball rolling with the St. Paul Social Security office, said staff assistant Jon Norberg, who attended the ceremony.

Rose, a Navy veteran, had been trying to get his benefits through the St. Paul office since 2005 — and getting nowhere.

Rose, who moved to Detroit from Canada in 1941 at age 6, said he initially was told the U.S. government had revoked his citizenship 42 years earlier because of a mysterious, unsigned memo that appeared in his immigration file. The typewritten memo states he voluntarily gave up his U.S. residency in 1963.

Social Security officials contend the memo played no role in the decision to deny Rose benefits.

Rose’s attorney, Stella Mednik, said she sent the St. Paul Social Security office several documents that proved his citizenship, including the visa papers from his entry into the U.S. from Canada and his Navy discharge record.

But it wasn’t enough.

She said Rose’s only mistake was not applying for a naturalization certificate when he was 16 years old, which he was required to do. But, she said that shouldn’t have affected his benefits because his father was a U.S. citizen.

Rose, who was born in England, couldn’t provide a copy of his birth certificate, which further compounded the problem, she said.

Even though Rose was considered a U.S. citizen because of his father, Dooley said, his citizenship status was not official because he was never sworn in.

“Those who are 14 and older have to take an oath,” she said. “That’s part of our procedure.”

The naturalization certificate is not mandatory for certain government benefits, she said. It only speeds up the process.

“We have seen there are a lot of agencies that won’t grant benefits without seeing it,” she said. “That’s the Catch-22.”

Indeed, Rose’s benefits claim was denied in 2005 because there was no evidence of his age and no evidence of U.S. citizenship status, Social Security officials told the Pioneer Press in December.

As to why it took five years to get answers, Dooley could only offer up this explanation: Rose was most likely the victim of poor record keeping.

Immigration files before 1956 are not kept in an electronic database, she said, and must be physically retrieved from storage.

“That can take a long time,” she said.

Mednik said Rose’s accrued benefits total at least $50,000.

Rose, a longtime chef and baker who now works at the Hastings YMCA, said things started to go his way because of Mednik, a New York immigration attorney who has worked on his behalf at no charge for the past 17 months.

“I don’t have the words to say what she has done,” Rose said, adding he wished she could have made the ceremony. “She is what a lawyer is supposed to be. I think she’s more excited than me.”

Veterans Home resident Kevin Johnson said he’s been impressed with how Rose has kept his sense of humor throughout the ordeal.

“It’s been a long time coming for him,” Johnson said. “He learned to be tolerable about the whole thing. Although if you need any bureaucracy jokes, he’ll tell you some.”

Hastings Man Becomes an American Officially

Rose Covered Glasses - The Book

"Rose Covered Glasses" by Tony Rose is now available as a free download from the Box Net Cube in the Right margin of this site.

The Vietnam Era Veteran fought and won a 4 year battle with the Federal Government to affirm his citizenship and obtain his social security, which had been falsely denied. The book contains some of his best satirical writings over the last few years.

BUCKS FOR BANKERS - BILLS FOR THE BRAVE

You may recall the story of Vietnam Veteran Tony Rose who fought a long battle with the Social Security, Homeland Security and Department of Immigration to re-establish his citizenship and gain his pension.

The Minnesota Veteran's Home and the State of Minnesota have seized $44K of Tony Rose's retroactive social security for payment of back rent.

The Federal Veteran's Administration has levied a substantial, indefinate, deduction on his monthly social security check for payment of unspecified medical bills they will not identify, the amounts and details for which they have not been provided to Mr. Rose.

Tony plans to leave the Minnesota Veteran's Home and move to an unspecified location.

UPDATES - ON STATUS OF NAVY VETERAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY - GOVERNMENT CONTRACT WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE

TONY ROSE GETTING PRESS AND GOVERNMENT COVERAGE ON HIS PENSION STATUS

The Pioneer Press has run a story on Tony Rose, the Navy Veteran who has not been able to collect his social security pension for 2 years while being snared in a malfunctioning Homeland Security database:

http://www.twincities.com/ci_11190464?nclick_check=1


The Office of Norm Coleman and the St. Paul Pioneer Press have also interviewed Mr. Rose in continuing efforts to focus attention to his problem.

Mr. Rose's case has not been re-opened by the St. Paul Office of the Social Security Administration and his lawyer is preparing affidavits in pursuit of hearings on the matter.

USA TODAY COVERAGE OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR WASTE FRAUD AND ABUSE.

The following two stories detail the horrendous waste of taxpayer money in connection with federal contracts containing funds earmarked for support of the Iraq war.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-11-17-iraqcontracts_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-11-17-iraq-contract-inside_n.htm

The data points to the escalating demise of the Military Industrial Complex as covered in the following postings:

http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2008/09/two-collapsing-towers-wall-street-and.html


http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2008/11/as-recently-announced-by-project-on.html

HELP FOR A US NAVY VET WITHOUT A COUNTRY

We have a military veteran friend who was honorably discharged during the Vietnam era. He served in the US Navy while having dual citizenship (Canadian/US). He was born in England and his family moved to New York Via Canada when he was a child, where he became a dual Canadian and US Citizen.

After discharge my friend worked in the US for over 3 decades, paying US taxes and Social Security. When it came time to retire and apply for his pension he was informed that the US Department of Homeland Security had revoked his US citizenship and did not recognize his Canadian citizenship.

The Social Security Administration will not begin his pension payments until his citizenship issue is resolved. He has been trying to work this matter through the VA, his local representatives in government (congressional level) and directly through the Social Security Office. No one seems to know what to do, who should take action and who has responsibility. The DHS will not reply to his inquiries. Any ideas?



POST SCRIPT: This request was sent to DHS today:

ANTHONY ALDO ROSE
MINNESOTA STATE VETERAN’S HOME HASTINGS
1200 18TH STREET
BOX 202
HASTINGS, MINNESOTA 55033

(Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested)

11 November 2007

Mr. Brian J. Welsh
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
National Records Center, FOIA/PA Office
P. O. Box 648010
Lee's Summit, MO 64064-8010

Subject: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request for Records

Enclosure: DD Form 214 – Discharge from United States Armed Forces

Dear Mr. Welsh:

The purpose of this letter is to request records in my name on file in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The undersigned is a US Navy veteran who is a resident in a state veteran’s facility in Hastings, Minnesota. I am writing to you on Veteran’s Day to request any and all records on file at the Department of Homeland Security pertinent to my citizenship in the United States of America and the disposition of my records status as a citizen of the US, to include notifying the US Social Security Administration of my citizenship status.

I have lived in the United States since 1946 having moved from Windser, Ontario, Canada to Detroit Michigan with my family that year. I attained dual citizenship in Canada and the United States and achieved a US Social Security Number. I served in the Armed Forces of the US honorably and I have paid state and federal taxes to include social security from 1963 to the present in the United States of America.

In 2006, upon my retirement, I applied for my Social Security Pension and was informed by the Social Security Administration that the Department of Homeland Security had taken administrative records action that denied my citizenship status and precluded my being able to obtain my pension. I have attempted to resolve this matter for over a year and have been without a pension during that period.

Pursuant to requesting a hearing with regard to this matter I hereby request copies of all records in the Department of Homeland Security against my name, my social security number, my service number, my former addresses and my citizenship status, to include correspondence to other agencies such as the Social Security Administration.


Anthony Aldo Rose

UPDATE: