Methodology (Fallen And Forgotten)

The Chicago Reporter obtained a list of all service members who enlisted as noncitizens and were killed in combat between Sept. 11, 2001, and Aug. 15, 2008, from the U.S. Department of Defense. The Reporter then matched the list with the department’s record of all combat casualties for the same period in order to obtain detailed demographic information for each service member The Reporter contacted relatives of these service members—reaching 56 of them—and asked whether their loved ones received posthumous citizenship and whether military officials informed them about their own potential immigration benefits.