BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 19|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 19
Author: Alejo (D), et al.
Amended: 6/25/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-2, 6/25/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Military service
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution urges the Congress of the United States
to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the
military if they are eligible under the Presidents Executive
Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive
Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful
Permanent Residents.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1)Since the end of the last United States military draft in
1973, Americans have not been obligated to enlist, and
currently less than 1% of the United States population serves
in the armed forces. During World War II, up to 12% of the
population served 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,
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Page 2
and cultural experts, making them an essential resource to our
national defense.
3)The United States Army has recently expanded its Military
Accessions Vital to the National Interest program to allow
immigrants with certain skills that are in demand to join the
Army in exchange for expedited United States citizenship.
4)Over five million immigrants in the United States and over 1.5
million immigrants in California are eligible under the
President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program and Executive Order for Deferred
Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents
program and could, at the appropriate age, join the military
in defense of their nation.
5)Currently, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization
Act 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.
This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to enact
legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they
are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred
Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.
Background
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
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Page 3
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 (MAVNI)
program 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 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, 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
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Page 4
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. The program is currently recruiting applicants
with proficiency in at least two of 49 languages, including such
rare languages as Cebuano, Igbo, and Uzbek. The MAVNI program
is also recruiting in a number of medical specialties, including
rare specialties such as otolaryngologist, entomologist, and
prosthodontist.
(http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/additional-incentives/mavni.html.
)
Pending federal legislation encourages military eligibility for
persons eligible under DACA. Arizona Rep. 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 U.S.C. Section
504(b)(1) for the purposes of making a determination and
authorization whether or not to allow the 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 Rep. 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.
Comments
According to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, since the
September 11th attacks, more than 53,000 immigrants have
enlisted in the U.S. military and have received wartime military
naturalization. Federal legislation is necessary to grant
undocumented immigrants the opportunity to serve the country in
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which they live, by enlisting and serving in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/1/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/1/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: 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
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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-2, 6/25/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu,
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Page 6
Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood,
Atkins
NOES: Gallagher, Harper
NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Jones,
Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Waldron
Prepared by: Karen Chow / SFA / (916) 651-1520
7/1/15 16:51:32
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