The United States recruited more than half a million Filipino soldiers during World War II with the promise of American citizenship in return for their service and sacrifice. After victory, however, the US denied the Filipino soldiers recognition and rights based on racial grounds. Nevertheless, the Filipino veterans--many of whom never stepped on US soil-- continued to feel like Americans, and have fought for full recognition for over 60 years. Citizenship theory’s focus on citizenship as status, rights, and responsibilities within nation-state boundaries cannot yet explain why and how a group of non-migrants identify as citizens and feel a sense of belonging towards a state to which they have never been. This inquiry compels us to consider citizenship not as a static category in opposition to non-citizenship, but as a process intimately linked with state-influenced racial formation, particularly in the transnational context of empire.
