During World War II, thousands of Filipinos fought for the US armed forces, including many who suffered years of poor treatment in prisoner of war camps or who continued fighting a guerrilla war after the US abandoned the Philippines. These veterans were promised US citizenship in return, but after the war many were told they were too late to become US citizens because the Philippines had been granted independence from the US before they applied. However, veterans groups in the US and the Philippines eventually succeeded in securing the promised citizenship through political pressure campaigns and a long court battle. The Immigration Act of 1990 made Filipino veterans who fought for the US in WWII eligible for citizenship of the United States.

This image shows (from left) Benjamin Escano, Jose Morales, and Fidel Rubias, three Filipino WWII veterans who had separately traveled to the US to push for their citizenship. The men, who had not previously met each other, are photographed here at their lawyer's office. Despite the long wait for citizenship, Rubias said he had considered himself an American ever since putting on a US military uniform and taking his oath 50 years earlier.

Caption information source: "U.S. promise to Filipino war veterans finally coming true," by Ron Redmond, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 31, 1990, page B1