He’s a US soldier deployed on the Mexico border. He’s also an illegal Chinese immigrant

The soldier says he avoids US customs and border officers out of fear they will learn his status as an undocumented migrant

He is one of thousands of undocumented immigrants who applied to the US military on the understanding they would be naturalised

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A US soldier hangs concertina wire on the US-Mexico border fence, in a file photo. Photo: US Marine Corps

Published: 5:24am, 6 Dec 2018Updated: 9:31pm, 6 Dec 2018

The US soldier was ready to deploy across the world at a moment’s notice, but when the orders came down weeks ago to mobilise on the southern border, it sparked a flash of concern.

He knew the mission was in support of border agents combing harsh borderland terrain to arrest anyone unlawfully in the country. People like him.

A US soldier looks across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas, into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where a group of people hang out on the river bank on November 17. Photo: AFP

“I’m an illegal immigrant,” the Chinese-born soldier said by phone.

His duties do not often intersect with Customs and Border Protection agents, he said, but he has avoided them out of fear they will learn one of 5,400 troops in their orbit is in violation of immigration law.

That has placed him in the unusual situation of serving a nation that has not recognised him as a citizen, despite promises from the Pentagon to quickly naturalise skilled immigrants in exchange for service, as it had done for thousands of troops since 2009.

The Washington Post is withholding the soldier’s name and certain details, including his duty location, because he fears discipline for speaking to the press.