WASHINGTON -- Christina Lucatero Diaz, born in Mexico, wants to become an officer in the U.S. Navy.

But by law, officers must be U.S. citizens, so she was ineligible -- until Monday.

When she was 6, her family crossed the border in search of a better life, settling in Riverside. But after almost 20 years in the United States, four years rising in the enlisted ranks of the Navy, a year of paperwork and a special Pentagon ceremony, Diaz is closer to her goal.

More than 30,000 noncitizens are serving in the U.S. armed forces. Twenty-two of them -- most in their dress uniforms -- became citizens Monday. On a sunny spring afternoon, the natives of 15 countries raised their right hands and took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.

"It speaks volumes about America when people are willing to take up arms to defend her, yet they cannot even vote here," said Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, himself an Army veteran and immigrant.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 7567.story