US Military to allow some illegal immigrants to enlist under new policy. Good idea or bad idea?

I wasn't stating a truth, but my opinion. More immigrants could qualify for citizenship if the standards weren't so high.

I am confused, if the law allows them to stay here legally...how are they still ILLEGAL immigrants?

The president only passed an executive order that suspended any deportation proceedings against any illegal immigrants that qualified for DACA and allowed them to apply for jobs. His order didn't make them legal and a future president could just rescind the order and demand that they get deported.

If they qualify it allows them to work here legally, so they become simply "legal" immigrants in the same way someone working here on a visa is a "legal" immigrant.

No, DACA does not make you legal. It is explicitly stated on the USCIS website that DACA does not provide lawful status. The Department of Homeland Security is allotted a certain amount of money to perform deportations and with DACA the president is using prosecutorial discretion to focus deportation efforts on big fish like drug traffickers while leaving alone people who were bought here before they were 16. He is also using prosecutorial discretion in order to not prosecute employers who hire them.

While the president can't legalize illegal immigrants outright, with this program he is using a loophole to get around it. By allowing illegal immigrants to enlist into the military he can use 8 U.S. Code § 1440 to legalize and grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.

if thats the case, you wouldnt support the US military at all either

Well it's not likely you are going to see them deported so sure, if they are willing to serve (because **** you won't see me linning up to get shot at) in exchange for legal status I say let them.

Brown people keeping white people "safe" from other brown people who are, in turn, quietly financed by other more powerful white people. Seems like a winning formula to me.

A crooked president..what a shock.

High standards? The US has no standards, any nitwit can get in here.

Get in and become a citizen are two different things.

burrrrrnnnnnnnn

Stupid comments are not burns....

Not in this country. Amnesty has been given multiple times over the decades with only time here taken into account. Oh and look up the wet foot dry foot policy.

If it was easy to become a citizen we wouldn't have an illegal problem. Just sayin.....

bad idea...It will create internal conflicts...

Being an illegal immigrant doesn't necessarily mean a higher security risk. If they're willing to fight and die for the country they tried so hard to enter, let them as long as they can pass the background checks and meet required standards.

The problem a lot of people in this thread, as well as all over the internet have is they didn't read the rules to this new program. I know that I mentioned it twice in the thread but a lot of people here still seem to think that the program means all of those Mexican teens who were bought here illegally can join the military. While Mexican kids who were bought here while babies probably aren't a security risk, that isn't the case, because unless they have medical degrees they aren't eligible.

The program will only benefit a small amount of illegal immigrants, such as illegal immigrants from places like China or Middle Eastern countries because they speak the languages the military is looking for. Current estimates state only a few dozen of the millions of illegal immigrants currently in the country will qualify. While China isn't a huge issue, immigrants from nations with hostile groups are a serious problem.

The DACA program, which you need to qualify for to enlist, only requires you to prove you was in the US before you turned 16. Fact of the matter is you can forge some of the things you need to prove it, such as using fake high school transcripts, and that opens up the possibility of some young ISIS member with no criminal record trying to make his way into the military.

Certainly not. This is a foolish idea, but what else is new coming from the #1 shitheel government on the planet? They trade bad ideas like they're a commodity.

Now why would we let illegals into our military when Obama pink slipped so many officers? With all the radicals today, it is just dumb! Take jobs away from US citizens that have already seen war, have served and managed earn their way up the military chain, just to pink slip them and bring in someone who broke the law? Let them join their own countries military.

Absolutely not its bad enough the government is just letting them walk right into the country and having everything handed them in this country the lines need to get toughened up and not let them damn people in there are way to many of them in this country to begin with and now they are trying to take jobs for honest hard working Americans now send them back

I don't understand why people are so opposed to immigration.

They just take the crap jobs nobody else wants. Is that really that bad?

It makes me think there might be underlining "real" reasons people are opposed to immigration like racism.

Remember, Nengo flow supports isis. He is as close to scum as anybody on these forums can get.

As long as they speak English fluently and don't have a criminal record, I don't see why not.

People aren't opposed to immigration. People are opposed to illegal immigration.

If they can sing pledge of allegiance and our national anthem then I don't see why not, but I want to see some patriotism. But people join the military to serve not "go there to work" they must be willing to protect this country.

That would mean that the vast majority of enlisted members shouldn't be in there. Only the tiniest fraction of people join for patriotic reasons. The military is just another job, with fairly poor pay and a long contract. It's hardly anything more than that.

Then why do they get so salty every time somebody suggests a way for a legal path to citizenship?

Any person who is enlisted in the US military but is not one of its citizens is a mercenary. Nothing more nothing less.

For the most part, it's because it's rewarding illegal activity. There are thousands of men and women who immigrate here legally and go through the proper channels to gain Green Cards and eventual citizenship. It's a slap in the face to them when they did it the right way only to see people who sneaked across the border given amnesty, usually for a lot less than what they paid to get here legally.

Then there's that whole race card thing that is thrown out whenever people say they are opposed to illegal immigration. "You don't want to give undocumented Mexicans amnesty? You must be racist against Latinos!" True, some people against illegal immigrants may be racist but the majority aren't.

Oh I see, not supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants=racism. Got it.

So the US Army needs more cannon fodder. Which country will they inva.. I mean, liberate next?

republicans gonna racist

If this program had anything to do with a shortage of people willing to join then why are there thousands of soldiers that are U.S. citizens and who actually want to be in the Army getting pink slips in a drawdown that started several years ago?

I dont buy it

This path would make it legal then.

Why are you speaking for all legal immigrants? I'm a legal immigrant in Canada and I don't give a shit that some people come here illegally. That is a fault of the system for making immigration a bureaucratic mess and I can sympathize with people who want to work around it. Not only is it a mess to apply but it's also incredibly expensive and you run the risk of spending money on dozens of forms only to still be turned away.

And you should read more on what President Obama's actions this past week were. No one was given "amnesty".

Why is anyone in the military if the pay is poor?

I see both sides. On one hand, if illegal immigrants are working in the military, they are doing honest work, paying taxes, earning skills, and maybe working their way towards full citizenship. On the other hand, I can see why people would be annoyed that people who came here illegally are beating out american citizens for jobs. Readers Digest version: meh.

@MakeMeaSammitch: It's still rewarding criminal behavior. What is the point in having immigration standards if we ignore them?

@Aljosa23: Just because you're okay with it doesn't mean all of them will be. One example is my soon-to-be ex, who is from the Philippines and absolutely hates illegal immigrants because of all of the trouble the two of us went through from when we first applied for her visa in 2004 to when she got naturalized in 2010.

Besides, you are an immigrant in Canada and the only country Canada shares a border with is the U.S. There aren't too many illegal immigrants from Latin American countries who are going to go to Canada, they usually make their way to the U.S. and settle.

I never said all them will be okay with it. I just said your initial post of speaking for all legal immigrants was dumb and not at all in touch with reality.

Though to be honest I find the whole concept you described pretty hilarious. Your soon-to-be ex basically hates illegal immigrants because they used a shortcut and didn't want to deal with the cluster **** that is legal immigration - that sounds a lot like jealousy/envy to me lol. But to each their own, I guess.

Jealousy? Going by your theory honest, hardworking people with jobs must be jealous of bank robbers who didn't get caught. The way my ex feels is one way to look at it, but that doesn't factor in the natural-born U.S. citizens who are pissed.

When it comes to immigration, there is a method to the madness. Just because you don't understand it doesn't make it stupid. I am willing to consider better options for immigration but an outright amnesty just encourages more to come over here and wait for the next one.

Because nearly 50% of enlisted US military are under 25 years old. Nearly 75% are under 30. Oh, and only about 6% of enlisted members have a college degree.

As long as you don't have any physical health problems, they will basically take you in regardless of experience. Quite a large percentage of enlisted military members are basically kids out of high school with no actual skills. A good chunk are doing it to pay for college, and another large chunk are entering so they can leave their parent's home. The idea that these 18, 19, or 20 year olds are all enlisting in the military because of patriotism is laughable. Even if the military pay is terrible, its better than a part-time job at Starbucks - which is what most of these people are, at best, qualified to do before entering the military.

They're not exactly poor. The base pay might be small. But, that is the only part that is taxed. If you take all the allowances and benefits* (such as free health care, no rent/mortgage, no utility bill, 10% discount on retail stuff and gasoline), it's not too shabby.

I see many of these army boys accumulate enough money from repeated deployments overseas that they can buy sports cars such as Subaru STi, Mitsu Evo, Chevy Camaro SS, assorted BMW, Audi, etc.

I just shake my head sometimes.

*Add also educational benefits. I also see many GIs get their degrees from university classes online. I have a nephew (army) who is taking online courses from the University of Maryland.

In their current form, I don't think they really work. Maybe we should just say that this is the best solution and absolve people of prior crimes.

I don't see the issue, if they've risked criminal charges to get in so they can get a better life. Then surely they'll not only fight the hardest they can to keep the nation they've risked everything to get into protected but also as a way to prove that they are willing to those that point at them and claim they are dangerous to have in the said country.