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Today, Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after filing an amendment to the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that makes clear the Obama Administration has no authority to enlist DACA aliens in the military and that strikes language inserted as a result of an amendment offered by Congressman Ruben Gallego to establish a process for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program aliens to enlist and serve in the United States Armed Forces:
“It’s time that we stop playing politics with the Defense Authorization and ensure that a provision meant to allow military readiness isn’t hijacked in order to provide backdoor amnesty to DACA aliens. Sadly, open border advocates have once again put politics ahead of the needs of our men and women in uniform in attempting to enact President Obama’s lawless immigration agenda.
“This shortsighted and unconstitutional effort will further reduce military opportunities for lawful American citizens and lawful immigrants who wish to serve at a time when the Pentagon is dramatically downsizing our total number of troops. There is no labor shortage and we are in the midst of eliminating 160,000 uniformed personnel positions over a nine-year stretch. Given this fact, it is wrong to prioritize enlisting illegal immigrants over Americans and legal immigrants that want to serve our nation.”
Background:
The full text of Congressman Gosar’s amendment can be found HERE.
The Congressman’s amendment is endorsed by Americans for Limited Government, Eagle Forum, Heritage Action, the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) and NumbersUSA.
Cosponsors of Congressman Gosar’s amendment include: Brian Babin, Lou Barletta, Dave Brat, Jim Bridenstine, Mo Brooks, John Fleming, Glenn Grothman, Andy Harris, Walter Jones, Steve King, Tom McClintock, Pete Olson, Steve Palazzo, Randy Weber.
Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) offered an amendment at the Committee level to “enable beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to enlist in the U.S. Military.”
Rep. Gallego claims that Section 597 of the House NDAA “Affirms the Secretary’s broad discretionary power to enable immigrants – including [DACA aliens] – to enlist in the military.”
The Gosar amendment strikes Section 597 and clarifies that the Obama Administration does not have the authority to unilaterally enlist DACA aliens in the military.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction to stop President Obama’s unconstitutional expansion of DACA and creation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. Just last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on these controversial executive amnesty policies.
In 2008, the Department of Defense (DOD) created the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program, which “authorizes the military services to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered to be vital to the national interest.” Illegal aliens and “noncitizens who entered the United States without inspection” have always been prohibited from enlisting under MAVNI until the Obama Administration issued a memo that unilaterally allowed DACA aliens to become eligible for this program in September of 2014. The administration also increased the cap for MAVNI recruits from 1,500 to more than 5,000 annually.
Since the memo was released the Army has had more than 550 DACA applicants. There is a misguided effort underway by open border advocates to further expand the size and scope of the MAVNI pilot program in order to provide a pathway to citizenship for more DACA aliens. As noted by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), the MAVNI program allows citizenship to be granted to any enlistee that serves at least one day of wartime service.
CRS also states that “DACA recipients do not have a legal immigration status.” The Department of Homeland Security's website states that DACA aliens “lack lawful status” and are “subject to all legal restrictions and prohibitions on individuals in unlawful status.”
MAVNI was never intended to be utilized for the benefit of illegal aliens. Testimony from DOD states that MAVNI was created to “recruit legal non-citizens with critical foreign language and cultural skills.” The Army’s website states, “MAVNI is a recruiting program that allows legal non-citizens with in-demand skills to join the Army in exchange for expedited U.S. citizenship. The MAVNI fact sheet on DOD’s website states MAVNI is utilized “to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered to be vital to the national interest.”
Article I, section 8, of the Constitution gives Congress clear jurisdiction on immigration matters. Congress has consistently rejected and failed to act on policies that aim to allow illegal aliens to serve in the military.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) recently reported, “Proponents of military amnesty argue that it would provide the regular components of the military with much-needed troops. However, by the military’s own account, it already has a sufficient number of qualified individuals. In FY 2015, every branch of the military met or exceeded their recruiting and retention requirements. In fact, the last time a branch missed its enlistment goal was in 2005. There is simply no labor shortage that justifies supplanting Americans and legal immigrants with illegal aliens to meet recruiting and retention requirements.
Moreover, the Armed Forces are being hammered with lay-offs and reductions in force. In Fiscal Year 2015, 25,109 uniformed personnel positions were eliminated. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, another 6,440 have already been eliminated. It is also estimated that between 2010 and 2019, a total of 158,000 uniformed personal positions will be eliminated, thereby costing American citizens and legal immigrants 158,000 service opportunities. Therefore, the military does not need a greater pool of potential enlistees. In fact, instead of helping the military, a military amnesty would force additional burdens onto the military and convert the DOD into a green card processing agency.”
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