COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Youth of Color
Officials Hope to Rekindle Interest in Immigration Bill Provision
Donna Miles, American Forces Pres Service
June 11, 2007
A senior defense official expressed hope
today that a provision in the stalled immigration bill that would
have allowed some undocumented aliens to join the military won't fall
off the radar screen.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM,
provision in the immigration bill was expected to help boost military
recruiting, Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for
military personnel policy, said today during a telephone conference
with veterans' group representatives.
The DREAM provision offered a way for high-achieving children of
undocumented or illegal residents to join the military and,
ultimately, become citizens, Carr explained.
"In other words, if you had come across (the border) with your
parents, yet you were a minor child and have been in the U.S. school
system for a number of years, then you could be eligible to enlist,"
he said. "And at the end of that enlistment, then you would be
eligible to become a citizen."
Because the provision would have applied only to the "cream of the
crop" of students who have demonstrated top aptitude, it would have
been "very appealing" to the military, Carr said. "It would have been
good for readiness," he said.
While President Bush returns to Washington to help revive the stalled
immigration reform package, Carr said talk is already taking place to
see if at least the DREAM provision of the stalled bill can proceed.
At this point, he said, "we are not sure if the Congress would be
interested in resurrecting that segment of the bill."
Certain non-citizens have been eligible to enlist in the military
since the Revolutionary War. Today, about 35,000 non-citizens serve
in the military, and about 8,000 permanent resident aliens enlist
every year, said Marine Maj. Stuart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.
The 2006 National Defense Authorization Act established uniform
citizenship or residency requirements for enlisting in the military.
President Bush's executive order allowing non-citizens to apply for
citizenship after only one day of active-duty military service
remains in effect, Upton said.
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