[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5710 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5710
To amend title 10, United States Code, to prevent unlawful aliens from
enlisting in the United States Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2016
Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Babin, Mr. Brat, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Brooks
of Alabama, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Grothman, Mr.
Harris, Mr. Jones, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Miller of
Florida, Mr. Olson, Mr. Palazzo, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr.
Weber of Texas, and Mr. Yoho) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to prevent unlawful aliens from
enlisting in the United States Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Military Amnesty Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDING; PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness signed a memorandum entitled ``Military Accessions
Vital to the National Interest Program Changes'' and dated
September 25, 2014.
(2) The September 25, 2014, memorandum unlawfully expanded
eligibility in the Military Accessions Vital to the National
Interest (MAVNI) pilot program to include unlawful aliens.
(3) Prior to this memo, the Department of Defense never
attempted to enlist aliens granted deferred action by the
Department of Homeland Security pursuant to the memorandum of
the Secretary of Homeland Security entitled ``Exercising
Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came
to the United States as Children'' and dated June 15, 2012.
(4) Department of Defense enlistment rules prohibit
unlawful aliens from enlisting in the Armed Forces.
(5) MAVNI is a military pilot program intended for lawful
immigrants and lawful nonimmigrants initially approved by the
Department of Defense in 2008.
(6) The Department of Defense has stated that the authority
for the MAVNI program is found in section 504(b)(2) of title
10, United States Code.
(7) MAVNI was intended to be a one-year pilot program and
initially began with a cap of 1,000 recruits for all branches
of the Armed Forces.
(8) The pilot program expired on December 21, 2009.
(9) On August 17, 2010, the Department of Defense issued
guidance extending MAVNI through December 31, 2011.
(10) However, in order to assure the safety and security of
Department of Defense personnel, equipment, and operations,
implementation of the August 17, 2010, guidance was delayed
until the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum
entitled ``Reinstatement of Military Accessions Vital to
National Interest Pilot Program'' and dated May 16, 2012.
(11) The May 16, 2012, memorandum extended the pilot
program for two years and increased the cap for the pilot
program to 1,500 recruits for all branches of the Armed Forces.
(12) As a result of a request from the Army, the Department
of Defense in March of 2015 increased the cap for MAVNI to
3,000 recruits for all branches of the Armed Forces for fiscal
year 2015 and 5,200 recruits for all branches of the Armed
Forces for fiscal year 2016.
(13) The Department of Defense relies on the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to validate
``self-declared'' recruits and documents for unlawful aliens
participating in MAVNI.
(14) In fiscal year 2015, every branch of the Armed
Services met their enlistment goal. In fact, the Army, Navy,
Air Force, and Marine Corps have all met their enlistment goals
every year since 2003, with the exception of one branch missing
its target in 2006.
(15) In recent years, approximately 80 percent of
individuals who have sought to enlist in the Armed Forces have
been rejected.
(16) There is currently no shortage of qualified applicants
for service in the Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense
is in the midst of eliminating 160,000 uniformed personnel
positions over a nine-year period.
(17) MAVNI is a pilot program created by the executive
branch that allows participants to receive United States
citizenship after one day of wartime service.
(18) The Department of Defense has stated the agency's
intent to renew the MAVNI program pending a reevaluation and
final decision.
(19) The changes to the program that allowed unlawful
aliens to be eligible for enlistment were never authorized by
Congress.
(20) Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States
Constitution grants Congress exclusive jurisdiction with regard
to United States citizenship and immigration matters.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to prevent amnesty
within the Department of Defense by amending section 504(b)(2) of title
10, United States Code, to ensure that unlawful aliens are not eligible
to enlist in the Armed Forces.
SEC. 3. ADMISSION AND LAWFUL STATUS REQUIRED FOR ELIGIBILITY TO ENLIST
IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
Paragraph (2) of section 504(b) of title 10, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned may
authorize the enlistment of a person not described in such paragraph if
the Secretary determines that--
``(A) the person is an alien in a lawful immigration status
who was admitted and inspected pursuant to the immigration
laws, as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)); and
``(B) the enlistment of the alien is vital to the national
interest.''.
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