THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

He was when he came to the US at 12 but fit in so well he soon lost his accent. And despite his best intentions, over the years he never became legal.

When he was 16, his mother married an American and Runtschke gained “conditional residency” status. Conditional residency is good for two years, and immigrants have 90 days on either side of their two-year anniversary to apply for permanent status.

After high school, Runtschke enlisted in the Army before that two-year anniversary. He spent three years on active duty and five years in the reserves. After leaving active duty in 2000, he moved to Tallahassee and worked in construction.

When he enlisted, he asked the recruiter about his immigration status — and he said the recruiter told him the Army would obtain his green card, certifying permanent residency status.

It never did — as Runtschke discovered in 2006 when he lost his wallet. When he replaced his Social Security card, he discovered he had never received permanent resident status and was no longer eligible to work in the U.S. He has survived since on odd jobs that pay in cash.

In 2009, his lawyers filed an application for permanent residency, which was denied because he had not filed in a “timely manner,” meaning in 1998 when his conditional residency expired.

His lawyers applied again, citing the fact he was on “armed conflict” status as a reserve (though he wasn’t sent to war), a condition that fast-tracks applications for citizenship. But his application was denied because he was not on active duty while on “armed conflict” status.

In February, his lawyers filed for him be naturalized as a citizen because he had lived in the U.S. the required five years. He went to Jacksonville, Fla., “aced” the citizenship test and was told he would be sworn in that day because of his military service — until the examiner realized Runtschke had never received permanent resident status and denied his application for citizenship.

His problem was believing the recruiter, because the Army says that recruiters never promise something like that, but what 17 year old kid doesn't believe the nice recruiter man. And now that 17 year old mistake is making one veterans life a misery half a lifetime later. As Axel says, “I’m American. I breathe American, I feel American. I want to say I served my country, not your country.”