BILL ANALYSIS Ó AJR 19 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AJR 19 (Alejo) As Introduced May 27, 2015 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Judiciary |9-1 |Mark Stone, Wagner, |Gallagher | | | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | | | | |Cristina Garcia, | | | | |Holden, Maienschein, | | | | |O'Donnell | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 AJR 19 Page 2 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 AJR 19 Page 3 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 AJR 19 Page 4 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 AJR 19 Page 5 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 AJR 19 Page 6 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 AJR 19 Page 7