Immigrant military bill ‘a cruel joke'
During one of the Republican debates in Florida, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney agreed that the only way they'd support the DREAM Act is to take out the educational component.
Coincidentally, the day after the candidates introduced the idea of a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants only if they serve in the military, Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., submitted the Adjusted Residency for Military Service (ARMS) Act to the House.
Immigrant advocates across the country have rejected as unfair the premise that illegal immigrant youth should have no alternative other than to put their life on the line to gain citizenship.
What's really unfair is that such a program would not provide a legitimate pathway for a large proportion of the young immigrants who want the opportunity — and it could have a negative impact on our armed forces.
“Rivera's bill is a cruel joke,” said Margaret Stock, an Alaska-based immigration lawyer, former professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and supporter of the full DREAM Act. “Rivera gives them nine months to enlist and the only thing I can think of is that he doesn't know anything about the military cycle.”
Stock told me that an eligible immigrant would have to be extremely lucky to meet the requirements — maintain residence for the past five consecutive years, show intent to enlist in a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and demonstrate “good moral conduct” — and then actually get into the military.
“On Oct. 1, a whole bunch of slots are available, but it depends on the economy — when it's bad, there are fewer and they fill up right away. For instance, right now there are no slots left in the Army until next October,” Stock told me. “People are going to pay a ton of money to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services in upfront fees and adjustment of status fees, have nine months to get enlisted and then once that time runs out and they've failed to enlist because there aren't any slots, they'll become illegal immigrants again.”
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