Army Enlisting Illegals?

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Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, expressed hope today during a telephone conference with veterans’ group representatives that a provision in the stalled immigration bill that would have allowed some undocumented aliens to join the military won’t stall as well.

The Army recruited 5,101 active-duty soldiers in May, 399 short of its 5,500-soldier goal, the Defense Department recently announced.
The Navy and Air Force, however, both met their May goals, with 2,709 and 2,451 recruits, respectively. The Marine Corps exceeded its May goal by 34 percent, signing on 2,225 new Marines.

The provision at stake is the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM that offered illegal residents a way to join the military and, ultimately, become citizens, Carr explained.

"In other words, if you had come across (the border) with your parents, yet you were a minor child and have been in the U.S. school system for a number of years, then you could be eligible to enlist,” he said. "And at the end of that enlistment, then you would be eligible to become a citizen.”

Because the provision would have applied only to the "cream of the crop” of students who have demonstrated top aptitude, it would have been "very appealing” to the military, Carr said. "It would have been good for readiness,” he added.

Source: Army Wants to Enlist Illegals