Pentagon Recruiting More Undocumented Immigrants

The number of young undocumented immigrants joining the U.S. military to avoid deportation has increased dramatically in recent months, Breitbart News reported.

Pentagon spokeswoman Gabrielle Hermes revealed that between October 2015 and April this year, the armed forces signed up 136 members of the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals initiative. The program protects children of undocumented immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” from being sent back to their parents’ home countries. They get two-year deportation deferrals, as well as work permits.

During the 2015 fiscal year, the armed forces accepted only five DACA recruits through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program. MAVNI’s purpose is to help the Pentagon enlist enough interpreters and medical providers, according to Breitbart.

Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona has proposed an amendment to the Pentagon budget to stop MAVNI. He claims the program is a form of “backdoor amnesty” because the recruits become U.S. citizens. However, House Speaker Paul Ryan is preventing debate on the amendment.

“I am pleased that Congressman Gosar’s attempt to irresponsibly revise compromise language that could enable Dreamers to serve was rejected by cooler heads in the House GOP leadership,” said another Arizona Republican, Rep. Ruben Gallego. “This shouldn’t be a controversial issue. The secretary of Defense has the statutory authority to allow any immigrant to enlist if it’s in our national interest, including DACA recipients who want to fight for our country. It’s about defense and what is in the best interest of our nation and our military.”

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