Security experts: Boost U.S. military with immigrants

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/
11/24/24immigsoldiers.html

Austin American-Statesman
November 24, 2006

Security experts: Boost U.S. military with immigrants
People on both sides of immigration debate, criticize
idea of offering citizenship to foreign fighters
By Eunice Moscoso

-O'Hanlon and Boot say importing immigrants to be
soldiers would solve the military's recruitment
problems and provide more translators and experts in
other cultures.
-Other nations have traditions of foreign citizens
serving in specific military branches, including
France, where about 8,000 noncitizens comprise the
Foreign Legion. Other examples include the military
force known as the Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers who have
served in the British Army for 200 years....
-[T]he U.S. would damage its image by using immigrants
as "cannon fodder" and exploiting people's
desperation. "It is chilling...that this came from two
organizations that play such a critical role in
shaping foreign policy in this country."

WASHINGTON — In the Revolutionary War, thousands of
immigrants joined the American quest for independence.

Two centuries later, two prominent national security
experts contend that foreign citizens can once again
help the United States maintain combat-readiness.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, and Max Boot, a senior
fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New
York, have proposed allowing thousands of immigrants
into the United States to serve for four years in the
military to earn citizenship.

Though many legal residents already serve in the
military, this program would bring in migrants with
the express purpose of becoming soldiers.

For some, it recalls the medieval practice of hiring
foreign mercenaries. For others, it cheapens the ideal
of being an American and takes advantage of desperate
people.

But O'Hanlon says the military is in dire need of
personnel and that immigrants could be an ideal
solution.

"The Army and Marine Corps are too small and too
stressed, even though they've gone to great lengths to
work hard to recruit," he said. "I want to give them
some more options to find people."

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched
military resources, forcing the U.S. to rely heavily
on reservists, National Guard troops and multiple
deployments. To meet recruitment goals, the military
has boosted cash bonuses and other incentives.

O'Hanlon and Boot say importing immigrants to be
soldiers would solve the military's recruitment
problems and provide more translators and experts in
other cultures.

O'Hanlon acknowledges that hiring noncitizens is risky
and that extensive background checks would have to be
done.

The U.S. has more than 40,000 noncitizens on active
and reserve duty. About 8,000 permanent residents
enlist for active duty every year. The naturalization
rate for those soldiers has risen in recent years
because the U.S. expedited the process and allows
overseas citizenship ceremonies for troops.

Margaret Stock, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army
Reserve and a professor at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point, said a recent change in law gave the
Pentagon the authority to bring immigrants to the U.S.
to serve if it determines that it is vital to the
national interest, but the Pentagon has not done so.

Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said that
Department of Defense policy limits enlistments to
U.S. citizens and permanent residents and that
immigrants who enlist are offered a path to
citizenship.

Stock said immigrants should have more chances to
serve, but not as the sole path to citizenship.

In addition, she said, the military could find more
recruits if illegal immigrant students were given a
chance at legal residency. Legislation known as the
DREAM Act, which would give illegal immigrants who
finish high school a path to citizenship, has stalled
in Congress. The measure allows students to attain
permanent legal status if they complete two years of
college or serve honorably in the military for at
least two years.

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimated
the act would result in 279,000 newly eligible persons
for college enrollment or the military. Boot said
illegal immigrants should be allowed to participate in
the military path to citizenship program because
"they're here anyway, and we're not kicking them out."

Other nations have traditions of foreign citizens
serving in specific military branches, including
France, where about 8,000 noncitizens comprise the
Foreign Legion. Other examples include the military
force known as the Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers who have
served in the British Army for 200 years, and the
Swiss Guard, which protects the Vatican.

Lisa Navarrette, spokeswoman for the National Council
of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, said
allowing immigrants to come to the U.S. just to serve
in the military was "a deeply offensive notion"
because it implies that Americans are unwilling to
defend the country.

In addition, she said, the U.S. would damage its image
by using immigrants as "cannon fodder" and exploiting
people's desperation. "It is chilling to me that this
came from two organizations that play such a critical
role in shaping foreign policy in this country."

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