Immigrants and the US Military Research Paper

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Immigrants Should be Allowed in the US Military and Granted Citizenship

One of the major issues that have faced the U.S. Department of Defense is on permitting illegal immigrants to serve in the U.S. military. This issue has become relatively controversial in the recent past because of immigration issues and the need to enhance homeland security. In this regard, there are questions on whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to serve in the US military. Additionally, there are concerns on whether legal immigrants should be granted US citizenship after being permitted to serve in the US military. Currently, the United States only permits legal immigrants to serve in the military. This paper seeks to examine the issue on whether illegal immigrants should be permitted to serve in the military and whether legal immigrants should be granted citizenship. The main idea presented in this paper is that immigrants should be permitted to serve in the US military and be granted citizenship.

Main Idea

As previously indicated, the main idea of this research is to support the view that immigrants should be permitted to serve in the US military and be granted citizenship. Currently, only legal immigrants are allowed to serve in the military. If you do not have a Green Card or Alien Registration Card, then you cannot join the military. However, if those illegal immigrants are willing to fight and die for the country they live in, then why should they not be allowed to serve as well as gain their citizenship in the process? Moreover, legal immigrants who are permitted to join the US armed forces should be awarded US citizenship because they are defending a country that they want to be part of. In this case, there are no valid reasons why illegal immigrants should not be permitted to serve in the US military or why legal immigrants should not be granted citizenship. As long as an individual is willing to fight and die for the country, he/she should be allowed to serve in the military and be granted citizenship despite of whether he/she is a legal or illegal immigrant. Watson (2007) contends that, “expedited acquisition of citizenship is connected to a willingness to engage in national military service for the United States” (p.35).

Literature Review

The issue of permitting immigrants to serve in the US military and granting them citizenship has been the subject of numerous studies and publications. This issue has obtained considerable attention in the recent past because of the proliferation of immigration issues. Immigration issues have generated security concerns, which in turn impact the status of immigrants in the United States. As a result, there have been numerous analyses on whether immigrants should be permitted to serve in the US military and be granted citizenship. Existing literature and evidence demonstrates that immigrants should be allowed to join US armed forces and be granted citizenship in the process.

Increase in the Number of Foreign-born Individuals Serving in the U.S. Armed Forces

Batalova (2008) conducted an analysis on immigrants in the country’s armed forces with a view of demonstrating why they should be allowed to serve in the military and be granted citizenship in the process. In this publication, she provided data from the U.S. Department of Defense on the immigrants who are actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. As of February 2008, there were 65,000 non-U.S. citizens and naturalized citizens (immigrants) actively involved in serving the U.S. Armed Forces (Batalova, 2008). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has naturalized over 37,250 immigrant members of the U.S. Armed Forces since September 2001. 111 out of the more than 37,250 naturalized citizens were granted posthumous citizenship by USCIS. According to 2008 statistics, more than two-thirds of foreign born individuals i.e. 68.7% serving in the U.S. Armed Forces are naturalized citizens (Batalova, 2008). This was a reflection of the increase in the numbers of naturalized citizens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces since May 2006.

The United States Government, Department of Homeland Security (n.d.) reports that 2002 to 2015, the number of naturalized service members in the US armed forces/military has increased from 2,434 to 7,534. Even though there has been a slight decline in the number of naturalized service members since 2012, the figures have increased steadily over the past 15 years. In this regard, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has naturalized 109,321 members of the US armed forces since October 1, 2001. 11,069 out of the 109,321 naturalized members have been granted citizenship in the process through USCIS naturalization ceremonies that were conducted in 34 foreign countries (United States Government, Department of Homeland Security, n.d.).

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The increase in the number of naturalized citizens and non-citizens serving in the U.S. military is also documented by McIntosh, Sayala & Gregory (2011). Through a review of the number of non-citizens enlisted in the U.S military, McIntosh, Sayala & Gregory (2011) state that approximately “70,000 non-prior-service (NPS) non-citizens accessed into the active-duty enlisted military” from financial year 1999-2008 (p.5). These authors argue that the increase in the number of non-citizens permitted to serve in the U.S. military is attributable to three major factors. First, the number of non-citizens in the United States eligible to join military service is large i.e. roughly 1.2 million non-citizens (McIntosh, Sayala & Gregory, 2011).

Secondly, statistics indicate that there is a significant portion of eligible U.S. non-citizen population from diverse backgrounds with desired language and cultural skills. This diversity is suitable for the strategic interests of the U.S. military, which in turn contributes to increase in the number of non-citizens enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Third, non-citizens permitted to serve in the military have been found to be less likely to attrite in the first team as compared to citizen recruits to the U.S. military. This occurs even after control for demographic characteristics and service-related factors that usually affect attrition.

Existing Regulation Support Military Naturalization in the US

According to the United States Government, Department of Homeland Security (n.d.), the number of naturalized citizens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces has increased due to the special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These provisions require USCIS to speed up the application and naturalization procedure for existing members of the U.S. armed forces and veterans (United States Government, Department of Homeland Security, n.d.). McIntosh, Sayala & Gregory (2011) support the view that regulatory and policy changes have influenced the increase in the numbers of non-citizens and naturalized individuals serving in the U.S. military. They contend that recent policy changes have contributed to the increase through streamlining naturalization processes for many non-citizen members in the U.S. armed forces. Through these policy changes, citizenship attainment for non-citizen service members has increased and time-to-citizenship decreased in the past few years.

Plascencia (2015) states that a modern U.S. federal (8 U.S.C. §1440) was enacted in 2015 to permit U.S. non-citizens serving in the military to be granted citizenship. The statute expanded the citizenship offer to migrants who did not comply with the terms and conditions of their visas or those who entered the United States illegally. The author supports the idea of allowing immigrants to serve in the U.S. military and granting them citizenship through tracing back the history of amnesty for immigrants since the Civil War to date. Based on this article, Plascencia (2015) suggests the federal statute provides a framework for immigrants to be allowed to serve in the U.S. military and be granted citizenship due to their willingness to fight and die for the country. In this regard, migrants’ compliance issues with visa requirements and conditions are relatively ignored in favor of their willingness to fight and die for the country, which becomes the basis for their entry into the U.S. military and obtaining citizenship.

Sohoni & Vafa (2010) contend that military naturalization is supported by existing regulations and policies, which provide the basis for permitting immigrants to serve in the U.S. armed forces. These researchers argue that the U.S. Congress enacted regulations in 1862 that permit foreigners to serve in the U.S. armed forces through the right to expedited naturalization. The legislation is based on the powerful symbolic message that people who are willing to fight and/or die for the country are worthy of its citizenship. Since then, policy changes have been made from time to time to promote military naturalization. Even though the 1862 legislation limited military naturalization to whites and blacks, recent policy changes have expanded these regulations to include other foreigners. For instance, provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act have contributed to military naturalization of service members in various countries including China and other Asian countries (United States Government, Department of Homeland Security, n.d.).

Increased Desire by Non-Citizens to Serve in the U.S. Military

Based on an interview of a Marine, Arturo Flores, there has been a significant increase in the desire by non-citizens or foreign born individuals to serve in….....

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