The Few, The Proud, The Illegal Army

Photo by Dominic Rivard

If you ever thought to start your own militia of illegal immigrants, it could certainly pay off. That is until the local district attorney gets word of this scam and throws you in the hoosegow. Reuters reported on this very arrangement, where a Chinese immigrant was recruiting China emigres for his own Army unit of sorts. Those that were scammed had settled in the Los Angeles area illegally and were looking for a quicker path to citizenship. I am sure this sounded like an honorable way of going about it. 

Obviously illegal immigrants gaining citizenship through military service is a touchy political issue, but this guy managed to find a slant that I would never have even considered. They noted that he gave himself the title of Supreme Commander and marched his troops around the city in military uniforms.

I am most curious as to what straw broke the camels back and who was the unsuspecting soldier that broke rank and decided this was a bunch of B.S. Perhaps it was the obligatory stop at the In and Out Burger rather than a mess hall for lunch each day, if they could be so lucky.

The report does not note how much this guy made off with, but he was charging $300-$400 per recruit and was offering rank upgrades for cash. He had managed to recruit up to 100 Chinese immigrants for his so called U.S. Army/ Military Special Forces Reserve Unit. Needless to say, this faux force broke many local and possibly federal laws, giving this guy the opportunity to spend up to 8 years in the plush California penal system. Who knows, perhaps he made out alright, especially if he managed to hide the cash in a mattress somewhere.  The photo included is not of the culprit, but I thought it was a good imagining of a  convincing Supreme Commander.