S. 2516. the Kendell Frederick Citizenship Assistant Act. pays tribute to the memory of 21yearold Army Reserve Specialist Kendell K. Frederick who was killed in Iraq while attempting to become an American citIzen. Specialist Frederick was born in Trinidad and immigrated to the United States when he was 15 years old to join his mother. stepfather. and two sisters. He attended Randallstown Senior High in Baltimore County. Maryland. where he joined the schools ROTC program. Specialist Frederick enlisted in the Army Reserve in his senior year and was deployed to Iraq in December of As he was serving our country. Specialist Frederick sought to apply for U.S. citizenship. yet one bureaucratic hurdle after another delayed his application. First. the USCIS failed to route his application to the unit that processes naturalization applications for members of the military. The gentleman then rejected his application for failure to pay an application fee even though active military personnel applying for U.S. citizenship are not required to pay that fee. Next. the agency directed Specialist Frederick to get his fingerprints taken in Maryland despite the obvious fact that he was deployed in Iraq at the time.
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immigrated USCIS naturalization