BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 19
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR
19 (Alejo)
As Introduced May 27, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |9-1 |Mark Stone, Wagner, |Gallagher |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Maienschein, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Urges Congress to allow immigrants who are eligible
under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and
Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent
Residents (DAPA) to serve in the military. Specifically, this
resolution makes the following findings:
1)Since the end of the last draft in 1973, Americans have not
been obligated to enlist in the United States (U.S.) armed
services. During World War II up to 12% of the population
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served in the armed forces, but currently less than 1% of the
U.S. population serves in the armed forces.
2)Thousands of immigrants have served and continue serving in
vital military roles, including intelligence, information
operations such as foreign language translators, interpreters
and cultural experts, making them an essential resource to our
national defense.
3)The U.S. Army has recently expanded its Military Accessions
Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program to allow
immigrants with certain in-demand skills to enlist in exchange
for expedited U.S. citizenship.
4)Since 2009, over 14,500 U.S. military personnel on active duty
in our armed forces are immigrants who are not U.S. citizens;
and since the September 11th attacks, more than 53,000
immigrants have enlisted in the U.S. military and have
received wartime military naturalization.
5)One of the first casualties of the U.S. intervention in Iraq
was an immigrant from Guatemala who had a green card, Lance
Corporal. Jose Gutierrez, who was granted American
citizenship posthumously. Subsequently, more than 100
immigrant soldiers have been granted posthumous citizenship
after dying in defense of the U.S. during combat in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
6)As of 2008, the highest percentage of foreign-born U.S.
military personnel was from Latin America and the Caribbean,
with 39% originating from Latin America and 36% from Asia.
7)Over 5 million immigrants in the U.S. and over 1.5 million
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immigrants in California are eligible under the President's
Executive Orders for DACA and DAPA programs and could, at the
appropriate age, join the military in defense of their nation.
8)Recently, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization
Act (NDAA) that would allow some young immigrants with DACA
status to serve in the military was passed out of the House
Armed Services Committee with bipartisan support.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that a person may be enlisted in the armed forces
only if the person is one of the following:
a) A national of the United States, as defined in the
Immigration and Nationality Act.
b) An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, as defined in the Immigration and Nationality
Act.
2)The Secretary of the Defense may authorize the enlistment of a
person not described in 1) above, if the Secretary determines
that such enlistment is vital to the national interest.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS: According to the author:
Currently, undocumented immigrants are not allowed to
enlist in our U.S. Armed Forces. Over 5 million
immigrants in the United States and over 1.5 million
immigrants in California are eligible under the
President's Executive Orders for Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program and Deferred Action for
Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents
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program and could, at the appropriate age, join the
military in defense of their nation.
The majority of immigrants covered by the President's
Executive Orders... are Americans for all intents and
purposes, and all this resolution requests is that
Congress give them the opportunity to serve their
country in the Armed Forces.
The History of Immigrants Serving in the United States Military.
To most people who have some knowledge of U.S. history, it is a
known fact that foreigners have fought in the American military
since French and Polish-born soldiers assisted George Washington
in winning the Revolutionary War. Accordingly, a 2009 report by
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Margaret Stock, Essential to the
Fight: Immigrants in the Military Eight Years After 9/11, states
that ever since the Revolutionary War, immigrants have been
eligible to enlist in the U.S. military and have done so with
great distinction. Many immigrants have gone on to win this
nation's highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of
Honor. Two examples of immigrants who have served in the U.S.
military and achieved great honors in the process are Alfred
Rascon, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, and John
Shalikashvili, who came to the U.S. from Poland shortly after
World War II. These two men are exemplary examples of the
contributions immigrants can make to the U.S. both during and
after serving in the U.S. military. Alfred Rascon won the Medal
of Honor during the Vietnam War and eventually became the
Director of the Selective Service. John Shalikashvili
eventually served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
(Margaret D. Stock, Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the
Military Eight Years After 9/11, Immigrant Policy Center Special
Report, November 2009.)
The Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest Program
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is Limited in the Number of Immigrants it can Help Attain
Citizenship. In September 2014, the Pentagon publicly announced
that the MAVNI program would accept applications from
undocumented immigrants, if they qualified as "Dreamers."
Dreamers are young people who entered this country illegally,
have lived most of their lives in America, have graduated from
high school or earned a General Educational Development (GED),
and have maintained a clean legal record. Enlistment in the
MAVNI program has been limited to 1,500 recruits annually.
However in April 2015, the Army announced plans to double its
enlistments in the MAVNI program from 1,500 to 3,000 recruits by
the end of Fiscal Year 2015; and to 5,000 recruits in Fiscal
Year 2016.
The current MAVNI program criteria requires that an applicant,
at the time of his or her enlistment: 1) must qualify under one
of 19 non-immigrant categories, have Asylee, refugee, or
temporary protected status (TPS), or be eligible under DACA; 2)
must legally reside in the U.S. for at least two years prior to
joining the Army (excluding DACA applicants); 3) must have a
high school diploma; 4) must have a qualifying score on the
Armed Forces Qualification Test; and 5) must have a proficiency
in his or her native language. The in-demand skills currently
being sought for applicants to the MAVNI program include
proficiency in more than one language or specific medical
specialties.
(http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/additional-incentives/mavni.html.
)
Pending Federal Legislation Encourages Military Eligibility for
Persons Eligible Under DACA. Arizona Representative Ruben
Gallego serves on the House Armed Services Committee and has
successfully pushed for amendment language to be included in the
2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This amendment
requires the Secretary of Defense to review 10 United States
Code Section 504(b)(1) for the purposes of making a
determination and authorization whether or not to allow the
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enlistment of persons with employment authorization under the
DACA program, into the Armed Forces. The amendment passed out
of the House Armed Services Committee with bipartisan support,
but final approval is far from guaranteed. More than two dozen
House Republicans, led by Alabama Representative Mo Brooks, have
threatened to oppose the $612 billion defense authorization bill
if the immigration provision is not stripped from the bill. On
June 18, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed its version of NDAA,
without an immigration provision. Both versions of NDAA must be
reconciled by Congress before the final version can proceed to
the president's desk for signature or veto.
The U.S. Military Has Granted Citizenship to Soldiers
Posthumously. There are many soldiers who have died in military
service to our country, even though they had not been granted
U.S. citizenship before their deaths. In 2002, President George
W. Bush proclaimed in an Executive Order that all immigrants who
have served honorable on active duty in the armed forces after
September 11, 2001, would be eligible to apply for expedited
U.S. citizenship. (Executive Order No. 13269, 67 FR 45287 (July
8, 2002).) As a result, more than 53,000 immigrants have taken
advantage of this expedited citizen provision to become U.S.
citizens as of October 2009. As a result of this executive
order, more U.S. citizenships were granted under Immigration and
Nationality Act Section 329A, 8 United States Code Section
1440-1, the federal statute that allows citizenship to be
granted to immigrants who die on active duty during periods of
conflict.
Analysis Prepared by:
Khadijah Hargett / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0001056
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