[Senate Hearing 113-762]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015
----------
MONDAY, MAY 19, 2014
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Chicago, Illinois.
The subcommittee met at 9:28 a.m., in the Phoenix Military
Academy, 145 South Campbell Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, Hon.
Richard J. Durbin (chairman) presiding.
Present: Senator Durbin.
Immigrant Enlistment: A Force Multiplier for the U.S. Armed Forces
STATEMENT OF HON. LUIS V. GUTIEERREZ, UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
opening statement of senator richard j. durbin
Senator Durbin. Welcome. This hearing of the United States
Senate Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations will come to
order.
Today's hearing is entitled, ``Immigrant Enlistment: A
Force Multiplier for the U.S. Armed Forces.'' It will examine
the benefits of immigrants enlisting in the military. Before
going any further, I would like to ask everyone, please to
stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. My name is Dick Durbin. I am a United States
Senator from Illinois and chairman of the Senate Subcommittee
on Defense Appropriations. Thank you to those who are here in
person and those who are following the hearing on Facebook and
Twitter using #DREAMtoServe.
For those who are attending their first congressional
hearing, I will explain how we are going to proceed. I will
deliver a brief opening statement, then we will hear statements
from witnesses, and then I will ask some questions.
I want to note that the rules of the Senate prohibit
outbursts or demonstrations of any kind in a public hearing,
and I will enforce the rules. If there are disruptions, those
who are responsible will be held responsible. If they continue,
I will ask them to be removed.
Lastly, before we begin, I want to thank the Chicago public
schools and the Phoenix Military Academy for hosting us and
allowing us to be here today for this hearing. I especially
want to thank retired Colonel Kevin Kelley, Director of
Military Instruction for Chicago Public Schools; Phoenix's
commandant, retired Lieutenant Colonel Victor Harris; Phoenix's
principal, Ferdinand Wipachit, and Jer Rodriquez and Devin
Sizer from Chicago Public Schools. I also want to thank the
cadets of the Phoenix Military Academy who are in attendance.
America is a Nation of immigrants. Since the beginning of
our republic, immigrants have come to our shores from around
the world leaving behind everything they knew to build a life
for themselves and their children. And throughout our history,
immigrants have proudly served in the United States Armed
Forces fighting and even dying alongside native-born Americans
to defend their adopted country. For example, one of the first
servicemen killed in combat in Iraq was Lance Corporal Josee
Gutieerrez, who came to the United States illegally from
Guatemala.
Today, our immigration system is broken. It does not
reflect our heritage as a Nation of immigrants. There are
millions of undocumented immigrants in our country who want to
be part of America. But under current law, there is no way for
them to get in line and legalize their immigration status.
Regardless of their qualifications, they are unable to
participate in many sectors of America, including the military.
It has been 13 years now since I first introduced the DREAM
(Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. This
legislation would allow immigrant students who came to the
United States as children to earn their citizenship by
attending college or serving in the military. The young
immigrants who would be eligible for the DREAM Act call
themselves DREAMers. We have not been able to pass the DREAM
Act yet, but thanks to President Obama, DREAMers can receive
temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program, also know as DACA.
DREAMers were brought to the United States as children.
They grew up in this country. They have overcome great
obstacles. They are our future doctors, engineers, teachers,
soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who will make America
stronger.
Over the years, I have met many DREAMers who want nothing
more than to give back to the country they love by serving in
the Armed Forces and they have the talent, the heart, and
determination to be great servicemembers. We are going to meet
some of them today.
Sadly, there have always been voices of hate who have
spread fear about immigrants. Today is no different. One
Congressman from Iowa was asked recently about DREAMers who
want to serve in the United States military. This is what he
said, ``As soon as they raise their hand and say, `I am
unlawfully present in the United States,' we are not going to
take your oath into the military, but we are going to take your
deposition, and we have a bus for you to Tijuana.'' That is
what he said.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have heard
similar hateful comments from this Congressman. I call on every
Member of Congress, both parties, to reject this hateful,
divisive rhetoric. There is no place for this kind of language
in any constructive debate about immigration.
Previous generations of Americans also faced racism and
exclusion, but their military service played a crucial role in
overcoming discrimination. During World War II, many of us have
seen the movie where African Americans had to prove their
patriotism and love of America, the Tuskegee Airmen, African
Americans who served in what was then the Army Air Corps, the
Camp Montford Point Marines, who went through basic training
for the Marines as African Americans in primitive circumstances
proving their love of this country.
In that same war, Japanese-Americans who were highly
suspect because of the invasion and destruction at Pearl
Harbor, formed their own unit, the 442nd was one of them, which
ended up being the most decorated military unit in the war. One
of the members of that unit was Dan Inouye, the late Senator
from Hawaii, who was ultimately awarded with the Congressional
Medal of Honor for the heroism and bravery that he demonstrated
as part of that Japanese-American effort to prove that they
were loyal to America. During World War II, facing segregation
and divisions within America, it was the American military
which opened the door of opportunity for so many groups.
In 2010, I brought the DREAM Act vote to the Senate. We won
a majority of votes, but not the 60 we needed to defeat our
filibuster. Senator Inouye reacted to our defeat and said, ``By
allowing the DREAM Act to sit idle, we extinguish hope for a
lot of people and deny too many the opportunity I was given.''
I will acknowledge as well that my friend, Congressman
Gutieerrez is here today with Congressman Foster, successfully
guided the DREAM Act through the U.S. House of Representatives
and I congratulate you for that effort.
But last year, we passed the Comprehensive Immigration bill
in the Senate by a vote of 68-32. There were eight of us, four
Democrats and four Republican Senators who sat down and worked
for months to write this bill. And when it was over, we
constructed a comprehensive immigration reform bill. It is now
pending before the U.S. House of Representatives and has been
for almost a year.
Today, again, I call on the Republican leadership of the
House to bring the Senate immigration reform bill to the floor
of the House. If Speaker Boehner gives us a vote, I am
confident immigration reform will pass with a strong bipartisan
majority, and the President will sign it into law. If the House
Republicans refuse to act, then the administration can use the
authority it has under current law to fix some of the problems
with our broken immigration system.
For example, the Defense Department can authorize the
enlistment of noncitizens when it is vital to the national
interest. This determination is entirely in the discretion of
the Defense Department. It is clear that enlisting DREAMers is
vital to the national interest. It would give the Armed Forces
more diversity and inclusivity, and it would allow the Armed
Forces to access well-qualified, educated, homegrown talent,
many of whom are in this room today.
DREAMers who have received DACA have been thoroughly vetted
by the Department of Homeland Security. They are linguistically
and culturally diverse, well-educated and integrated into
American society. As we will see today, many DACA recipients
have shown a great aptitude for military service through
service in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. And as
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in 2010, authorizing the
enlistment of DREAMers will result in improved recruitment
results and attendant gains in unit manning and military
performance.
While the Armed Forces are reducing in size, the services
still need to enlist tens of thousands of well-qualified
recruits. Many fewer Americans are meeting enlistment standards
and we have to make sure that as the Department of Defense has
told us that we have good people enlisting in our military. And
here is a quote from a Department of Defense official recently,
``Today nearly 75 percent of our youth are not qualified for
military service with medical conditions and weight accounting
for most of the disqualifications. Compounding eligibility
concerns is the lack of youth interested in military service.''
prepared statement
The question is this: Will America be a stronger country if
we deport our DREAMers to countries they barely remember or if
we allow them to contribute more fully to the country whose
flag they pledged allegiance to every day they have been in
school? The answer is clear. I am confident that DREAMers will
soon have the chance to serve honorably in the Armed Forces and
on that day, America will be stronger and better.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Senator Richard J. Durbin
introduction
America is a Nation of immigrants. Since the beginning of our
republic, immigrants have come to our shores from around the world,
leaving behind everything they know to build a new and better life for
their children. And throughout our history, immigrants have proudly
served in the United States Armed Forces, fighting--and dying--
alongside native-born Americans in defense of their adopted country.
For example, one of the first servicemen killed in combat in Iraq was
Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who came to the United States illegally from
Guatemala.
But today our immigration system is broken and does not reflect our
heritage as a Nation of immigrants. There are millions of undocumented
immigrants in our country who yearn to be Americans. But under current
law there is no way for them to get in line and legalize their
immigration status. And, regardless of their qualifications, they are
unable to participate in many sectors of our society, including the
military.
the dream act
Thirteen years ago, I first introduced the Dream Act. This
legislation would allow immigrant students who came to the United
States as children to earn their citizenship by attending college or
serving in the military. The young immigrants who would be eligible for
the DREAM Act call themselves Dreamers. We haven't been able to pass
the DREAM Act yet, but--thanks to President Obama--Dreamers can receive
temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
program, also known as DACA.
Dreamers were brought to the United States as children. They grew
up in this country and have overcome great obstacles to succeed.
Dreamers are the future doctors, engineers, teachers--and soldiers,
sailors, airmen, and Marines--who will make America stronger. Over the
years, I've met many Dreamers who want nothing more than to give back
to the country they love by serving in the Armed Forces. And they have
the talent, the heart, and the determination to be great
servicemembers.
We are going to meet some of these Dreamers later today.
discrimination against immigrants and minorities
Sadly, there have always been voices of hate who have spread fear
about immigrants in our country. Today is no different. A Republican
Congressman from Iowa was asked recently about Dreamers who want to
serve in the military. He responded:
``As soon as they raise their hand and say, `I'm unlawfully
present in the United States,' we're not going take your oath
into the military, but we're going to take your deposition and
we have a bus for you to Tijuana.''
Unfortunately, this is isn't the first time we've heard xenophobic
comments from this Congressman. I call on every member of Congress--
Republican and Democrat--to reject this divisive rhetoric. There is no
place for this kind of nativism in the debate about immigration.
Previous generations of Americans also faced racism and exclusion.
But their military service played a crucial role in overcoming
discrimination. During World War II, the military was still racially
segregated and Jim Crow laws imposed a reign of terror on African
Americans living in the South. But African-American pilots--known as
the Tuskegee Airmen--served heroically in World War II--and in the
fight for civil rights.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, tens of thousands of innocent
Japanese-Americans were held in internment camps. Despite being labeled
``enemy aliens,'' many young Japanese Americans volunteered to fight in
World War II. The 442nd Regimental Combat team, an all Japanese-
American unit, suffered the most casualties in the European campaign
and was also the most decorated unit of its size in the history of the
United States military.
My predecessor as chairman of this subcommittee was Senator Daniel
Inouye. Senator Inouye, who passed away in 2012, was as an American
hero. He served in the 442nd and received the Medal of Honor for his
heroism in a battle against the Nazis in which he lost his arm.
In 2010, I brought the DREAM Act to a vote in the Senate. We won a
majority of votes, but not the 60 votes that we needed to defeat a
Republican filibuster. I will never forget Senator Inouye's reaction.
He said, ``By allowing the DREAM Act to sit idle, we extinguish hope
for a lot of people and deny too many the opportunity I was given.''
comprehensive immigration reform
Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform
bill on a bipartisan 68-32 vote. I was proud to be part of the ``Gang
of 8'' Democrats and Republicans who authored this bill. Our bill would
strengthen border security, reform our legal immigration system, and
create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
So far, the only immigration legislation the Republicans in the
House of Representatives have passed is an amendment to deport
Dreamers. Just last Friday, the House Republican Majority Leader
announced that he will block a vote on an amendment that a fellow
Republican wanted to offer to simply allow Dreamers to enlist in the
Armed Forces.
Today, I again call on the Republican leadership of the House of
Representatives to bring the Senate immigration reform bill to the
floor of the House. If Speaker Boehner gives us a vote, I'm confident
immigration reform will pass with a strong bipartisan majority and the
President will sign it into law.
enlisting dreamers
If the House Republicans refuse to act, then the Administration can
use the authority it has under current law to fix some of the problems
with our broken immigration system.
For example, the Defense Department can authorize the enlistment of
non-citizens when it is ``vital to the national interest.'' This
determination is entirely in the discretion of the Defense Department.
It is clear that enlisting Dreamers is ``vital to the national
interest'' because it would make the Armed Forces more diverse and
inclusive, and it would allow the Armed Forces to access a well-
qualified, educated, homegrown talent pool.
Dreamers who have received DACA have been thoroughly vetted by the
Department of Homeland Security, are linguistically and culturally
diverse, and are well-educated and integrated into American society. As
we will see today, many DACA recipients have shown a great aptitude for
military service through service in Junior Reserve Officers' Training
Corps (JROTC). In 2010, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that
authorizing the enlistment of Dreamers ``will result in improved
recruitment results and attendant gains in unit manning and military
performance.''
While the Armed Forces are reducing in size, the services still
need to enlist tens of thousands of well-qualified recruits every year.
And many fewer Americans meet enlistment standards and are interested
in enlisting. As a Defense Department official recently testified:
``Today nearly 75 percent of our youth are not qualified for military
service with medical conditions and weight accounting for most of the
disqualifications. Compounding eligibility concerns is the lack of
youth interested in military service.''
The question is this: Will America be a stronger country if we
deport our Dreamers to countries they barely remember or if we allow
them to contribute more fully to the country they love? The answer is
clear. I am confident that Dreamers will soon have the chance to serve
honorably in the Armed Forces. On that day America will be stronger and
better country.
Senator Durbin. Now, I would like to turn to our first
witnesses. We are honored today to be joined by two of my
colleagues from the House. Each witness is going to have 5
minutes for an opening statement. Their written statements will
be made part of the record. They know this well because they
have sat on this side of the table.
The first witness today is Congressman Luis Gutieerrez, who
has represented the 4th Congressional District since 1993. He
is a national leader on the issue of immigration reform. He
chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucuses' Immigration
Taskforce. He led successful efforts to pass the DREAM Act in
the House in 2010.
Congressman Gutieerrez, we are honored to have you as a
witness, and the floor is yours.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE LUIS V. GUTIEERREZ
Representative Gutieerrez. Thank you. Thank you so much,
Senator Durbin.
First of all, I would like to thank all of the wonderful
young men here and women at the Phoenix Military Academy. Thank
you so much for hosting this activity. I am very, very proud to
be here this year.
We know we are doing good, Senator, because the Alderman
showed up, Walter Burnett. Thank you so much for joining us. I
know you are here with us.
And we have a right in this country to let our feelings be
known and to express them freely and openly, but I have come
here today to say thank you to all of you for taking the steps.
With so much violence, and gangs, and drugs, and so many things
that take our youth down the wrong path, I want to say thank
you for making your commitment to the right path to excellence,
both educationally and morally and spiritually that you do here
each and every day at the Phoenix Military Academy. I am proud
to be here today with you and thank you, Senator, for hosting
this wonderful activity.
I want to say, first of all to everybody here that I was
excited about coming here because it was the Phoenix Military
Academy that has come to visit me in Washington, DC, but also
because Senator Dick Durbin was hosting this activity. I cannot
think of a person that has done more in the Senate, in the
congress of the United States to advance the cause of young,
immigrant youth in this country than Senator Durbin. And I
think we should give him a round of applause as he led,
successfully, the passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
in the U.S. Senate.
And I am here to tell him, we are going to roll up our
sleeves in the coming weeks. We are going to keep our
commitment. We are going to keep our dedication. We are going
to keep our focus, Senator Durbin, so we can have a companion
bill in the House of Representatives.
Today, the votes exist for the DREAM Act, for Comprehensive
Immigration Reform in the House of Representatives. They exist.
They exist because the argument has been won. And I want to say
that it is not good enough to pass the DREAM Act in the House.
It is not good enough to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform
in the Senate. We will not rest until we pass Comprehensive
Immigration Reform and Barack Obama, our President, signs that
into law so that you can all be free to live in this country,
and to enjoy the fruits of your hard work and labor in this
country.
I want to say that we have a letter that we sent around to
the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of
the Air Force, and it is a bipartisan letter, Senator Durbin. I
would like to put it officially into the record in which we
note that the Navy, and the Army, and the Marine Corps will not
let you even join if you have an undocumented dependent.
That means if you are an American citizen and your wife is
undocumented, if your children are undocumented, you cannot
enlist in the armed forces. I am happy to see that we are going
to have some testimony to hopefully clarify that for us later
on.
I think the Armed Forces of the United States should take
action to include all American citizens regardless of the
immigration status of their husbands and spouses.
And let me just say, I want to congratulate the
administration for taking the kind of lead that Senator Durbin
asked them to take, and that was to use their executive
authority.
Today, we know that members of the military whose wives are
undocumented can simply be paroled in place, and thereby given
permission, and allowed a legal status in the United States to
go to a green card holder.
I want to thank President Barack Obama and this
administration for allowing that because too many times we
read, and we know here, everybody remembers Specialist Nunez
who, when he took his wife back to Mexico, although he had
orders for deployment, to come back, his wife was not allowed
to return to the United States. Well, guess what? She is a
green card holder today. Paroled in place is the way to go.
The administration has already made that regulation in
order and I think that if we have that, that is exactly what
the military should respect that that is what we are doing
right now.
Now, in terms of this, I am hopeful today that this hearing
is going to enlighten us, Senator Durbin, as we know that you
have someone from the military coming to speak at a later
panel, and that she will be able to enlighten us even more in
terms of what it is the response of the taskforce, so that
American citizens are not stopped.
I would also like, Senator Durbin, to put in, ``Retired
Military Leader Said Kids Will Be Too Fat To Fight,'' and this
is from CNN-NBC. I would like this in the record which shows
the difficulty that we have in terms of recruitment of young
men and women because of educational, because of physical
condition.
We have young men and women that are immigrant that are in
this country that are smart and physically fit. And you know
what the most important thing is? Committed to the defense of
our country and our Nation; we should allow them to join the
military, especially at this time of need. And I would like to
be put in order, too, to put it in the record.
Lastly, where are we at today? Sadly, Congressman Coffman
and Congressman Denham, both Republicans, one from California,
the other from Colorado, have bills to allow young DREAMers to
enlist and thereby get their green card. But is it not sad that
the majority leader, Congressman Cantor, last week said he will
not allow a vote--a vote--on whether or not the DREAMers can
enlist in the military; will not allow a vote.
Well, let me just say this: I remember a time when we could
not pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform even if they allowed
a vote. But that does not exist today. I want to say there are
dozens, because I want the young men and women here to
understand this. This is a bipartisan problem and has a
bipartisan solution. I do not want them to think that this is
all about Democrats and Republicans necessarily.
No, there are dozens of Republicans who want to vote for
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the House of
Representatives. They want to respect the will of the people
and they see, in the young men and women here, an opportunity
for America to grow and to foster democracy. They want to get
that done and there are dozens, hundreds of Democrats like
Congressman Foster who came back to the U.S. House of
Representatives to make sure that we pass Comprehensive
Immigration Reform, and was there to successfully vote for the
DREAM Act and get it passed. And I want to thank Congressman
Foster for that moment of courage and insightfulness back 3 or
4 years ago when we got it passed in the House of
Representatives.
So, Senator, in conclusion, look. We have the votes. The
real question here is now whether or not in the House of
Representatives even though we know there are close to 250
votes out of the 435, and we only need 218. And we do not need
one person's arm twisted. We do not need to twist a single arm.
We only want those who willingly, happily want to vote for
comprehensive immigration. If they just allow a vote any day of
the week, any hour of the day, allow a vote, give us an hour,
you know what is going to happen? You will see that your good
work, Senator, and those of the senators who are bipartisan in
the senate, when you pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform last
summer, we will get you a companion bill out of the House.
PREPARED STATEMENT
We will figure out the differences and we will get a bill
on the senate so that all the young men and women, because I
know that the young men and women here, you know undocumented
youth that come to school with you each and every day. I know
how you treat them. You treat them as your brothers and your
sisters, and I only hope that one day, the Federal Government
will show the same kind of leadership that the young men and
women here at Phoenix Military Academy have shown to their
immigrant youth, that fight alongside of you, work alongside of
you, get trained alongside, get educated alongside of you here
every day. And that is to treat them with respect and to allow
them to incorporate themselves totally into our society.
Thank you, Senator Durbin.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Congressman Luis V. Gutieerrez
Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Cochran, thank you for the
opportunity to testify on this extremely important issue. I commend the
young cadets who are present today for their discipline and
accomplishments.
We are here to discuss the hopes and dreams of young talented men
and women who wish to serve our great country but are denied the
opportunity because of immigration issues.
It is my firm hope that the Republican-led House of Representatives
will follow the lead of the Senate and the Leadership of Senator Durbin
and President Obama and pass serious immigration reform this year that
will resolve many if not all of these issues. But until that happens,
our society must work around the fact that our immigration laws are
thirty years out-of-date and the military is no exception.
Young undocumented immigrants or ``Dreamers,'' who are American in
every way except for a piece of paper, are not able to fully contribute
to our Nation because they are not allowed to enlist in our Armed
Forces. Under current law, only U.S. citizens, green card holders and
persons ``vital to the national interest'' can enlist in the military.
In June 2012, the Administration announced Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, to protect young immigrants from
deportation and grant them work permits.
This announcement was widely celebrated across our country. At one
of Chicago's top tourist destinations, Navy Pier, 15,000 Dreamers and
their families stood in line to sign up for DACA the first day the
program opened. To date, more than 600,000 immigrants raised and
educated in the U.S. have signed up.
The popularity of the program led to sweeping Democratic victories
at every level in the 2012 elections. It's a growing boon to our
economy because it allows DACA recipients to fully contribute their
talents to our workforce. By signing up more than half a million well-
educated individuals who passed a rigorous background check and
demonstrated good moral character, there are fewer undocumented
immigrants living in the shadows, a fact that makes the job of
protecting our homeland and neighborhoods much easier for law
enforcement and immigration agents.
As more young immigrants sign up for DACA, those already in the
program will begin to renew their status this summer. Many of these
DACA recipients are part of the Chicago Public Schools Military
Academies. In fact, Chicago Public Schools run the largest JROTC
program in the nation, with more than 10,000 students enrolled.
Students in these military academies graduate at the top of their
class, have above average ACT scores, and have diverse backgrounds.\1\
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\1\ http://www.chicagojrotc.com/.
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These programs instill in students the values of service,
leadership, and personal responsibility. Many of these graduates want
to pursue a career in the Armed Forces, but the ones who have applied
for and received DACA are senselessly turned away.
Allowing these young patriots to enlist is vital to our national
interest because it enhances the military's cultural expertise and
diversifies the pool of well-educated applicants for recruitment across
the board.
I am very proud of the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago
for being national leaders when it comes to integrating and developing
the full potential of all immigrants. We are committed to welcoming
immigrants who want to work hard and contribute to our city regardless
of their origin or immigration status.
With State- and city-led initiatives like in-State tuition and
scholarships for DACA recipients, more students would qualify to serve
in the officer corps, helping to correct the underrepresentation of
minorities in leadership positions in the Armed Forces--but only if we
remove barriers to their service. A 2011 Military Leadership Diversity
Commission report found that overall military officers ``are less
demographically diverse than both the enlisted troops they lead and the
broader population they serve.'' \2\ If we align policies in a smart
way at the Federal, State and local level, we can do something to
correct this deficiency.
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\2\ ``From Representation to Inclusion: Diversity Leadership for
the 21st-Century Military,'' Military Leadership Diversity Commission,
March 15, 2011, http://diversity.defense.gov/Portals/51/Documents/
Special%20Feature/MLDC_Final_Report.pdf.
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But DACA recipients are not the only ones who are turned away by
the Armed Forces. Many U.S. citizens are being denied the opportunity
to enlist. I am deeply troubled by the current Navy and Marine Corps
regulation that prohibits U.S. citizens from enlisting in the military
if they have an undocumented spouse or child. This regulation came to
my attention last year when I read an article that said Marine Corps
recruiters counseled a recruit to divorce her spouse in order to
enlist.\3\
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\3\ ``Military's Immigration Battle; Pentagon Revisits Policy
Barring Those With Spouses, Children in U.S. Illegally,'' Miriam
Jordan, Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2013,
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/
SB10001424052702303330204579248584130068744.
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This and other reports prompted Congressman Mike Coffman of
Colorado and me to lead a bipartisan letter from 33 Members of Congress
to the Service Secretaries expressing our concern and requesting
clarification on this policy.\4\
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\4\ Letter to the Service Secretaries from Members of Congress,
sent on November 21, 2013, http://1.usa.gov/1jINLmy.
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The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness initiated a policy review on this matter with all the
Military Services. There is a working group examining both the DACA
enlistment issue and the Navy regulation barring U.S. citizens from
enlistment. I hope these issues are promptly resolved by the Department
of Defense (DOD) working group and expect a report on their findings
soon.
Our country should not turn away U.S. citizens because of who they
love. And a soldier should not have to worry about his or her spouse
being deported while they are defending our freedom.
Army Specialist Hector Nunez is someone who personifies how a
flawed immigration policy negatively impacts our military.\5\
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\5\ ``A family once divided reunited for Christmas; Soldier's wife
is granted humanitarian visa,'' Serena Maria Daniels, Chicago Tribune,
December 26, 2010, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-12-26/news/
ct-met-xmas-visa-20101226_1_visa-dream-act-christmas.
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Specialist Nunez is a combat engineer in the Illinois Army National
Guard who is responsible for clearing obstructions, including IEDs, for
military convoys. His wife Rosa was brought to the U.S. from Mexico
when she was 6 years old and grew up in Illinois. Hector and Rosa met
and fell in love. They had a son who was born with a brain condition
that required Rosa's constant care. They sought legal advice to resolve
Rosa's immigration status but were badly misled. Rosa returned to
Mexico for what she thought would be a brief period of time to pick up
the visa she was granted. Hector had just received military orders to
deploy to Afghanistan for a second tour when he learned that
immigration rules barred Rosa and his 1 year old son from returning to
the U.S. for 10 years. For a decade, they would have to live in Ciudad
Juarez--perhaps the only place more dangerous than Afghanistan, a place
where we issue ``combat pay'' for all U.S. personnel working in our
consulate there.
Specialist Nunez asked me for help and I worked with the family and
DHS to secure a humanitarian visa for Hector's wife. She and Hector's
son were able to return to the United States safely and Specialist
Nunez could redeploy without worrying about his family being in harm's
way.
This story is unimaginable but true. That's why I applauded the
November 15, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
memo that permits immediate family members of those who serve or served
our country to apply for parole in place.\6\ This feature of existing
immigration law that President Obama extended to military families
resolves many of their immigration status issues and allows many of
them to apply for permanent legal residence. Policies like these will
prevent more tragedies like Hector's. They also ensure that military
preparedness is not adversely affected by active duty servicemembers
worrying about their loved ones getting deported.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/
2013/2013-1115_Parole_
in_Place_Memo_.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The impact of our current immigration mess on issues of military
recruitment is just one example of why immigration reform is
desperately needed.
The fact that we have an estimated 11 million or more people living
and working here underground is a serious national problem that must be
resolved. We have as a society rightly concluded that driving out 11
million people and their families is bad policy. But leaving the status
quo is no solution, either.
In the meantime, every institution in America, including our
military, must work around the inability of our Federal Government and
the U.S. House of Representatives to fix our immigration system.
DACA is an important first step in implementing modern immigration
policies that reflect our values and strengthen our Nation. Next we
must fully incorporate DACA recipients and their families and the
millions of immigrants who live among us into our society.
Thank you Senator Durbin for your leadership on this issue and for
the opportunity to testify.
Senator Durbin. Our next witness is another Illinois
colleague, Congressman Bill Foster representing the 11th
Congressional District, member of the committee on financial
services. In his background, you should know, Congressman
Foster has a Ph.D. in physics. He is one of only three research
physicists ever elected to congress.
A strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform,
Congressman Foster, we are honored that you are going to join
us today, and the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF HON. BILL FOSTER, UNITED STATES HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Representative Foster. Good morning, and I would like to
thank you, Senator Durbin, for organizing this hearing, and for
everything that you have done to support DREAMers and to fix
our broken immigration system.
I am honored to have the opportunity to testify today, and
to join Senator Durbin in his efforts to authorize the
enlistment of DACA recipients into the U.S. Armed Forces.
For the last year and a half, I have had the honor of
representing the 11th Congressional District, which includes
Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. And before that, I
represented the 14th Congressional District, which also
includes Aurora.
And in that time, I have had the opportunity to meet many
DREAMers, young men and women who were brought into this
country as children and for many of them, the United States is
the only home they have ever known. Their place of birth, a
distant, foreign land they scarcely remember.
One of my proudest votes in the historic 111th Congress was
my vote in favor of the DREAM Act. And one of my most profound
disappointments with the current House leadership of the
current congress is its failure to bring up the DREAM Act in
any form. In fact last year, House Republicans voted
overwhelmingly to defund DACA, which is a lesson that should
never be forgotten.
I often see DREAMers when so many of these young men and
women have a deep love and commitment to this country. And I
often see them in the halls of congress, pleading simply for
the opportunity to become full-fledged citizens
And despite the fact they have been designated as a second
class of citizens, left in a state of limbo with no clear path
to citizenship, I have no doubt that many of these young men
and women would be the first in line for an opportunity to
serve our county in the armed forces. But if they walk into a
recruiting room today, they would be turned away, not because
they are not smart enough, not because they are not strong
enough, not because they do not love their country enough. They
are turned away for one reason and for one reason alone,
because of our broken immigration system. Unfortunately, this
is just one of many symptoms of our broken immigration system
which, for more than 20 years, has been left to rot by
Congress.
So I am very pleased today that we are holding this
discussion at the Phoenix Military Academy. It is just one of
the many institutions that is preparing students for service in
our armed forces.
I am also proud to represent another extraordinary
institution which also does this, the East Aurora School
District 131, which has the largest Naval Junior Reserved
Officer Training Corps in the world at 950 students during the
current school year.
Last year, 85 percent of all the students in the district
were Hispanic. One-third all District 131 high school students
receive bilingual services. In addition to academics and
physical fitness, these students are taught to give back to
their community, performing approximately 10,000 hours of
community service each year.
The students graduating from this program are ideal
candidates for the armed services. In fact, I recently had the
honor of nominating Ruby Garcia, an East Aurora High School
graduate, for an appointment to West Point. Ruby is the first
female from East Aurora High School to be accepted at West
Point. She will begin her training there this fall.
But how many other students, just like Ruby, have been
denied the chance to serve in our armed forces simply because
of their legal status? In June 2012, President Obama issued a
memo halting the deportations of undocumented youth under the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as
DACA. To qualify for a DACA exemption, applicants must undergo
background checks and finish high school. DACA allows them to
stay and work in our country, but it does not offer them a path
to citizenship, and it does not allow them to enlist in the
military.
I believe that our national priorities fit-in to two
general categories. First, things that we do to protect our
strength as a Nation like maintaining a robust military or
policies to support economic growth. And secondly, there are
things that we do because of the kind of people we are, our
dreams for the country, and the morals we have like providing
care for our seniors, or early education for underprivileged
children.
But this policy of denying DREAMers the opportunity to
serve fails on both counts. It is simply poor policy to turn
away these young men and women while we struggle to find
qualified Americans, able and willing to serve. It is morally
reprehensible to deny these patriotic young men and women the
opportunity to serve the country they love.
DACA is an important program that has provided hope for
thousands who are trying to build a life for themselves and for
their families. But until we pass comprehensive immigration
reform, hope and a safe haven is all that it offers. These
DREAMers are currently in a state of limbo, able to work and go
to school if they can afford it, but always living with the
uncertainty and fear of what may come next. Until we pass
comprehensive immigration reform, they have no path to
citizenship and no idea whether their status will be upheld by
the next occupant of the White House.
Providing DREAMers the opportunity to serve in the military
will not fix the core problems with our broken immigration
system. Only congressional action to pass Comprehensive
Immigration Reform can do that. But this is an important first
step that can give a little more hope to these patriotic young
men and women.
So thank you, Senator Durbin, for organizing this hearing
and for giving me an opportunity to testify. And thank you to
everyone who has come here today to share your insight and to
speak out on this important issue.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Congressman Foster. Appreciate
your testimony.
I want to thank Congressman Gutieerrez and Congressman
Foster for coming here today. I know their schedules are very
busy. You are welcome to stay, but if you have to leave, we
certainly understand that. So thank you very much for coming
here this morning.
Our next witness is Jessica Wright. She has come here from
Washington, DC. She is the Acting Under Secretary of Defense
for Personnel and Readiness, and I invite her to come to the
table as I read her introduction.
Jessica Wright has served as the Acting Under Secretary of
Defense for Personnel and Readiness in the Department of
Defense since January 1, 2013. She is the senior policy advisor
to the Secretary of Defense on recruitment, career development,
pay and benefits. She oversees the overall state of military
readiness.
Prior to her current position, she served as Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Under Secretary
Wright retired as a Major General in the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard after 35 years of military service. You must
have enlisted at a very early age. Her final assignment in the
Guard was Adjutant General of Pennsylvania and Commander of the
Pennsylvania National Guard.
She has an extraordinary responsibility. I just want to
make reference to the fact that her responsibility includes the
recruitment, career development, pay and benefits for 1.4
million active duty military personnel, 1.1 million Guard and
Reserve, and 680,000 DOD civilians. And she is responsible for
overseeing the overall state of military readiness.
Under Secretary Wright, I know you just returned from
overseas. I greatly appreciate you coming to Chicago today for
this hearing. I thank you for meeting with me on several
occasions to discuss enlisting DREAMers in the military and I
look forward to continuing to work with you, Secretary Hagel,
as well as President Obama on this issue.
The floor is yours. Your written statement will be included
in its entirety. Please proceed.
STATEMENT OF HON. JESSICA WRIGHT, ACTING UNDER
SECRETARY FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS,
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Ms. Wright. Senator Durbin, thank you so much for inviting
me to discuss immigrant enlistment in the armed forces. And I
really appreciate you championing this issue tirelessly
throughout the last several years.
It really is a great honor for me to be here at the Phoenix
Military Academy, one of our many Junior Reserve Officer
Training Corps programs in Chicago. And honestly, since the
inception of JROTC in 1916, the Department has the largest
youth development program in our secondary schools in our
community. And here in Chicago, the Chicago Public School
system has the largest ROTC presence, which is about 37
traditional units and 10,000 students participating.
I want to commend each and every student for being here. I
truly just want to thank all of the ROTC cadets for being here,
for taking the additional responsibility of learning leadership
through our military, of learning dedication, of learning
strong integrity and the values that we hold.
And again, as you said, I enlisted as a private and I made
it to Major General, and I would be honored if, at some time,
they felt that they could invite me back to talk to one of the
classes.
As you know, our military depends on a strong, diverse
society to sustain the all-volunteer force, and for more than
13 years of a protracted conflict, the all-volunteer force has
shown its resolve and continues to be the strongest and most
respected military in the world.
Our servicemembers and civilian employees are the reason
for this success. Our service recruiting commands have
sustained this all-volunteer force by assessing the best and
the brightest from across America, and their diverse
backgrounds and finding the solutions for many national
security issues from across the globe.
All the continued success of the volunteer force begins
with recruiting and the viability of our force is assured
because of the retention. Recruiting and retention has been
easier in some years than others, and the support of Congress
and you, sir, has clearly help to facilitate that success.
While we are currently achieving our recruiting goals,
there is no guarantee that we will continue to achieve those
goals. The support initiatives that would expand the number of
eligible youths to enlist in the military, the Department
continues to be on the record and supports the development,
relief, education for minor aliens at the DREAM Act; totally
support it.
The DREAM Act was largely incorporated in a bipartisan
immigration reform bill that passed the senate last June, and
we have been vocal about the fact that the Act will have a
positive impact on our Armed Forces.
The DREAM Act legislation, which you have tirelessly
supported, would provide the opportunity for those individuals
who came to the United States at 15 years of age or younger,
and have lived here more than 5 years to earn a legal status
and enlist in our great armed forces if otherwise qualified and
earn the right to become citizens of this great country.
Legislation like this would assist the military, and
potentially, our recruiting efforts and increase the pool of
eligible, young individuals that we can enlist. While the DREAM
Act may create a larger pool of these enlistees, it may also
further the diversity of our Department, our fleet, and our
force.
A few weeks ago, the Secretary of Defense, and leaders from
across our Department, signed the Human Goals Charter. The
Charter is the cornerstone document that affirms the
Department's commitment to diversity and equality in our
military. Diversity is much more than race, gender, religion.
It is a variety of mixture of thought, ability, background,
language, culture, and skill.
The Armed Forces of the United States is a Nation of
immigrants and have long distinguished them with a record of
valor and sacrifice, the part of those who call the United
States home, but are not yet citizens.
The history of noncitizens serving in the armed forces has
been significant. The Lodge Act of 1950 permitted foreign
nationals to enlist between 1950 and 1959, and we officially
began recruiting Filipino nationals into the U.S. Navy in the
1940's when we signed the Military Base Agreement, allowing the
U.S. military bases in the Philippines. A total of 35,000
Filipinos enlisted in the Navy between 1952 and 1991.
The DREAM Act would absolutely be similar and extend the
opportunity to serve in the military for those youngsters
brought to this country as children who are currently
undocumented through absolutely no fault of their own.
Each year, it is estimated that approximately 65,000
undocumented students graduate from high school, and many of
them are at the top of their class. However, they have
difficulty affording college, cannot enlist in our military,
legally work in the United States, or apply for citizenship, or
pursue their dreams. These young men and women may be
absolutely the quality of youth that the Department needs to
enlist.
Passage of the DREAM Act, or other authorities, may offer
this very specific set of young adults the opportunity to serve
our Nation, which they grew up in, the path to becoming a
productive citizen and contributing members of society.
As you know, June 2012, the Department of Homeland Security
established the Deferred Action Childhood Arrival process,
DACA. These youngsters were brought to this country by their
parents, sometimes as infants, and they often have no idea that
they were undocumented until they apply for a job, a driver's
license, or a college scholarship. The Department understands
the attributes of this young population that receives the
deferred action through the Department of Homeland Security,
the process known as DACA.
To that end, our Department continues to examine the laws
and policies to address eligible, noncitizens in the military.
The Department is working with Homeland Security in regarding
the parole in place policy so lawful, permanent residents,
citizens with undocumented family members may enlist in the
military and resolve the issues performing to their
undocumented spouses. And this goes to the statement that
Congressman Gutieerrez brought up, sir, that we are working
with Homeland Security to get to this point where we can enlist
those individuals.
Today, more than 25,000 noncitizens in undocumented status
serve in the military, Active and Reserve, and about 5,000 more
enlist each year. Noncitizens have been, and continue to be, a
successful member of our country's military. Those serve in
patriotic, dedicated professionals. Noncitizen recruits
continue to provide the services with a diverse course in terms
of ethnic and race, language and culture.
PREPARED STATEMENT
In conclusion, noncitizens have served and continue to
serve honorably in our military. Throughout the past and
current conflicts, those who are not yet citizens, but call
America home have answered the call to defend the Nation. We
look forward to the time when we will be able to grant more
individuals the opportunity to serve this great Nation.
I thank you for the opportunity to appear here, and I look
forward to your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. Jessica Wright
Senator Durbin, thank you for inviting me to join you here today to
discuss our mutual desire to develop a path to military service for
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients, an initiative
that you have long championed. It is also a great honor to be a part of
this engagement here, at the Phoenix Military Academy, one of the many
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs in the city of
Chicago. I value this opportunity to join you in demonstrating for this
student body, many of whom have studied civics and leadership as a part
of their involvement in JROTC.
Since its inception in 1916, JROTC has been and remains the
Department of Defense's (the Department's) largest youth development
program in our secondary schools and communities across the Nation.
Currently, JROTC has over 554,000 students enrolled in over 3,400 units
across the country where students like those joining us here today gain
valuable lessons in leadership, teamwork, and self-discipline. And,
right here in Chicago, the Chicago Public School system has the largest
JROTC presence in the Nation with 37 traditional units and over 10,000
students participating. I commend each of you for being a part of such
a great program and am confident you will gain valuable lessons that
will impact the rest of your lives. While you benefit from JROTC, it is
also important to realize that our society gains too. The societal
benefits of JROTC are significant and long lasting as well.
I would like to take this opportunity here at the Phoenix Academy
to commend the JROTC instructors as well as the entire faculty and
staff. The commitment that each of you have to providing a tremendous
learning environment for these young people is outstanding. My sincere
thanks to each of you for your service, and for your stalwart
commitment to these students and our program.
Our military depends on a strong and diverse society to sustain the
All-Volunteer Force. For more than 13 years of protracted conflict, the
All-Volunteer Force has shown its resolve and continues to be the
strongest and most-respected military force in the world. Our people
are THE reason for this success. Our Service Recruiting Commands have
sustained the All-Volunteer Force by recruiting the best and brightest
of America's youth from across our Nation. Their diverse backgrounds
aid immeasurably in finding solutions to the many complex national
security issues with which the Department is charged from around the
globe. The continued success of our All-Volunteer Force begins with
recruiting, and the viability of the force is assured with successful
retention. Both recruiting and retention have been easier in some years
than in others. The support of Congress has clearly helped facilitate
our success. While we are currently achieving our recruiting goals,
there are indications that the recruiting environment may become more
challenging in the future as the economy continues to improve.
To support initiatives that would expand the number of youth
eligible to enlist in the military, the Department continues to be on
record as supporting the ``Development, Relief, and Education for Alien
Minors'' (DREAM) Act, which was largely incorporated in the bipartisan
immigration reform bill that passed in the Senate last June, and has
been vocal about the potential positive impact of this legislation on
our Armed Forces.
The DREAM Act, legislation which you have tirelessly supported,
would provide an opportunity for those individuals who came to the
United States at 15 years of age or younger and have lived here for at
least 5 years to earn a legal status, to enlist in the United States
Military, if otherwise qualified, and earn the right to become a U.S.
citizen. Legislation like this would also help the military and our
recruiting efforts by expanding the pool of youth eligible for
enlistment.
While the DREAM Act would create a larger pool of potential
enlistees, it would also assist the Department in furthering our
diversity goals. Just a few weeks ago, the Secretary of Defense and
other top leaders across the Department signed the Human Goals Charter,
a cornerstone document that affirms the Department's commitment to
diversity and equality throughout the military. Diversity is more than
race, gender, and religion. It is a variety or mixture of thought,
ability, background, language, culture, and skill. Passage of the DREAM
Act would expand our ability to become a more diverse force and afford
a group of young people the opportunity to join the military and become
part of a rich tradition of service.
Our Armed Forces of this great Nation, a nation of immigrants, have
a long and distinguished record of valor and sacrifice on the part of
those who call the United States ``home,'' but are not yet citizens.
The history of noncitizens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces has
been significant over time. The Lodge Act of the 1950s, for example,
permitted noncitizen Eastern Europeans to enlist between 1950 and 1959.
We officially began recruiting Filipino nationals into the U.S. Navy in
the late 1940s, when it signed the Military Bases Agreement of 1947,
allowing U.S. military bases in the Philippines. In total, over 35,000
Filipinos enlisted in the Navy through the program between 1952 and
1991. The DREAM Act would similarly expand the opportunity to serve in
the military to those young people brought to our country as children
who are currently in an undocumented status through no fault of their
own.
Each year, it is estimated that approximately 65,000 undocumented
students graduate from U.S. high schools and many are at the top of
their class. However, they have difficulty affording college; cannot
enlist in the military; legally work in the United States; apply for
U.S. Citizenship; or otherwise pursue their dreams. These young men and
women often mirror exactly the ``high quality'' youth the Department
seeks for enlistment. They may be scholars, student leaders, and
athletes. They are often ``Americans'' in every cultural sense of the
word, having grown up in the United States and pledging allegiance to
our flag. Passage of the DREAM Act would offer this very specific
subset of young adults the opportunity to serve the nation in which
they grew up, and a path to becoming productive citizens and
contributing members of our society.
As you know, in June 2012, the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) announced the establishment of the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals process. As then DHS Secretary Napolitano stated, ``Our
nation's immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible
manner. But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without
consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor
are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where
they may not have lived or even speak the language. Discretion, which
is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.''
Speaking from the Rose Garden that same day, President Obama remarked,
``these are young people who study in our schools, they play in our
neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to
our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every
single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by
their parents--sometimes even as infants--and often have no idea that
they're undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver's license,
or a college scholarship.''
The Department recognizes the positive attributes of the population
of young people that has received deferred action through the
Department of Homeland Security's DACA process. To that end, the
Department continues to examine the laws and policies that address the
eligibility of noncitizens to serve in the military in order to
determine if and how our programs could be applied to DACA recipients.
The Department also supports legislative proposals that would expand
enlistment to include additional noncitizens.
Additionally, the Department is working with DHS regarding its
parole-in-place policy so that lawful permanent residents and citizens
with undocumented family members may enlist in the military and resolve
issues pertaining to their undocumented family members. I look forward
to working with DHS on immigration issues important to enlistees and
current Service members, as well as to veterans.
Today, more than 25,000 noncitizens in documented status serve in
the military (Active and Reserve) and about 5,000 more enlist each
year. They serve worldwide in all of the Services and in a variety of
jobs. They swear allegiance to the United States and represent our
Nation both at home and abroad--even on the front lines of our current
overseas contingency operations. Nearly 93,000 have been granted
citizenship through military service since September 11, 2001, and over
125 who entered military service since then have made the ultimate
sacrifice, having given their lives for our country in a time of war.
Noncitizens have been, and continue to be, a vital part of our
country's military. Those who serve are patriotic, and data shows that
over 80 percent complete their initial enlistment obligation.
Noncitizen recruits continue to provide the Services with a richly
diverse force in terms of race/ethnicity, language, and culture.
In conclusion, noncitizens have served and continue to serve
honorably in the military. Throughout past and current conflicts, those
who are not yet citizens, but call the United States of America
``home,'' have answered the call to defend their adopted Nation. I
thank you for the opportunity to appear here with you today and look
forward to your questions.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for returning
here from Washington and giving your testimony.
You have dedicated your life to the military. You
understand what it means to all of us, for the men and women
who are prepared to fight and even die, if necessary, to defend
this great Nation. And I thank you for that commitment on your
part and on behalf of all those that you represent here today.
As a student of history, as we look back, the U.S. military
has been an opportunity for America to start to get things
right. Back in World War II, when this Nation was divided by
race, even much worse than it is today, President Roosevelt
decided to end racial discrimination in the recruitment of men
and women into the military. And later, of course, President
Truman absolutely eliminated segregation in our military.
Each of those steps were taken long before our courts and
Congress had reacted to the issue of discrimination. And so, in
a way, the military has been a leader in America as we have
evolved on issues like race.
I mentioned the experience of former Senator, late Senator
Dan Inouye. Japanese-Americans were suspect after World War II
began with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Whose side were they
going to be on? And it was Senator Inouye, as a young man and
thousands like him, who stepped up and said, ``We may have our
roots in Japan, but we are committed to the United States and
we are prepared to fight for this country.''
They proved it over and over again in the course of that
war, the kind of heroism and valor that is extraordinary. And
they put to rest any critics who said, ``We cannot trust
Japanese-Americans because of Pearl Harbor.''
So we are at another moment in America's history where we
are dealing with the issue of immigration. And, of course, it
involves many groups, largely Hispanic but not exclusively, who
are asking for that same opportunity to break down the hatred
that some harbor against them, and to prove their love of this
country.
One of the key tests in the Department of Defense is
whether the recruitment of noncitizens is vital to the national
interest. That is the phrase: ``Vital to the national
interest.'' Congress did not define that very well; we left
that to the Department. And I think this is part of your
ongoing debate as to whether allowing DACA-eligible DREAMers to
enlist would be vital to the national interest.
I think, when you talk to us about exclusivity, part of
inclusivity, as well as diversity, when we look at the talent
in this room, these young men and women, many of whom make
great sacrifices, incidentally, to attend these military
academies and high schools. I have met some of them who take
more than one bus ride in the morning. Is there anybody who
takes more than one bus ride to get to school in the morning?
Take a look at the hands here. The sacrifices they are willing
to make to attend these schools.
This kind of commitment of these young people, I think,
would be a great asset to our military and vital to our
national interest.
Can you comment on that phrase, ``vital to the national
interest,'' in the context of this hearing?
Ms. Wright. Thank you, Senator.
So as you know, we do have a program, and it was
established. It is the Military Accessions Vital to the
National Interest, the term we use is ``MAVNI.'' MAVNI was
developed a while ago and has evolved slightly.
Right now we, the Department, in policy have determined
that vital to the national interest phrase are for very
specific skills; the skills are medical and language. And as
you know, the language does not include Spanish. It includes a
multitude of other languages. The reason that it does not
include Spanish is because we have a number of Spanish speakers
within our military.
But we think it is very important to take a look at the
MAVNI program that was established a while ago, and see what
that ``vital to national interest'' means. So the Department is
not doing this in a vacuum because it is something that we need
to be very inclusive. So we are talking to DHS. We are talking
to the Department of Justice. We have a team that is an
interagency team and it is also a team that is a DOD team.
We are joined at the hip, to use a colloquialism, with the
White House because, as you know, our President is very
concerned and also very pro when it comes to reforming
immigration. And so, it is very important to us that we are in
concert to things that the White House thinks is very
important, and we do too.
So we are looking to move forward on what ``vital to the
national interest'' means. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you
what that means at this point in time. I would like to be able
to give you a whole host of particular occupational
specialties, but I cannot do this. We believe that we will have
some sort of a more affirmative answer by the end of the summer
2014.
Senator Durbin. If I can ask you this question, each year,
how many men and women are recruited into our armed forces in
the United States?
Ms. Wright. I do not know exactly what that is. I know
about 200,000 leave our Armed Forces, so I would suspect about
200,000 come in.
And right now, you made a comment in your opening speech,
and I think both Congressmen also referenced it, you are right.
If we take a look at the population of the United States, if 3
out of 10 individuals within the age limit to enlist are the
ones that are eligible to enlist without any waiver, whether it
is weight, or whether it is do they pass the academic tests,
the ASVAB test, have they committed any sort of unlawful issue
that would preclude them from admission.
You are 100 percent right. So if you take 10 average
American kids that are out there in any high school, 3 of them
only meet the requirements of our great armed forces to enlist.
Senator Durbin. Well, the question I wanted to ask was if
it is about 200,000 and we will put the exact number in for the
record.
[The information follows:]
The number of men and women the Services have been asked to recruit
in fiscal year 2014 is 248,625. This is the enlisted number (non-prior
service and prior service) and it includes both the Guard and Reserve.
Senator Durbin. But if it is about 200,000, the MAVNI
program, which allows some exceptions here, I believe has an
annual cap of 1,500.
So, it would seem to me that it is in the best interests of
the United States and a strong military to expand that cap to
make MAVNI a permanent program and to expand the program to
include other skills other than medical skills and certain
languages--STEM subjects, for example--so that we will be
bringing into our military not only diversity through MAVNI,
but filling some key spots.
There will be some young people here fresh out of high
school, maybe out of college, who want to enlist, who can bring
skills that are needed for today's military. It would seem to
me that the President would be open to this. I would like to
talk to him some more about it, and I hope that you will
consider expanding MAVNI so that it may cover more than 1,500.
Ms. Wright. Sir, we agree with you. We believe that we
could certainly look at expanding it. We believe that there may
be some other opportunities other than the medical and the
language, and now we just need to get to what those are.
I know that the Chairman and the Joint Chiefs are very
interested in this, and so this is one of the things that we
are working with them to find out truly, how to expand it and
the number we want to expand it to.
So we agree that the population of DACA is really a robust
population that would give our organization the diversity, that
would give our organization some of the best and brightest in
America, that we could capitalize on, that they would make us a
better organization, and we would make them, as the military
has done for me, a better person.
Senator Durbin. Last question I will ask you, I only ask
you for the record, the critics of allowing DACA-eligible
DREAMers, many of them, may acknowledge diversity, they may
even acknowledge skills, but they question something very
basic. And that is the commitment of young people who are not
yet citizens to this country, their patriotism.
What has your experience been? What has our military
experience been when it came to men and women who stepped up
and said, ``We are prepared to fight in the uniform of the
United States of America, for this great Nation.'' What has our
Nation's experience been with these people?
Ms. Wright. Are you asking me that for the record or would
you like me to answer?
Senator Durbin. I would like you to answer.
Ms. Wright. I will tell you those individuals who are not
yet citizens who join our great ranks, our fleet and our force,
I do not question. I personally do not question their
patriotism. The Department does not question their patriotism.
They have lived, died, fought, bled, sweat for our country.
Senator Durbin. Madam Secretary, thank you. I feel exactly
the same way and on the next panel, we are going to get a
chance to meet some people who tell that story.
Thank you so much for coming out from Washington to Phoenix
Military Academy.
Ms. Wright. Thank you.
Senator Durbin. If I could ask the next panel to step
forward.
The first witness on this panel is retired Colonel Kevin
Kelley, Director of Military Instruction for Chicago Public
Schools. Prior to his current position, he was the Senior Army
Instructor at Roberto Clemente High School. Colonel Kelley
served in numerous command and leadership positions in the
Army, was public information officer for NATO headquarters,
Director of Advertising and Public Affairs for the United
States Army Recruiting Command. He is a graduate of the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point.
Colonel Kelley, thank you for joining us today. Your
written testimony will be part of the record. I invite you to
give us your spoken testimony at this moment.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL (RET.) KEVIN KELLEY, DIRECTOR OF
MILITARY INSTRUCTION, CHICAGO PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
Colonel Kelley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for
holding this hearing and inviting me to testify here today.
I would like to take just one moment to acknowledge our
other military academy that is also present in this room, that
is our Marine math and science cadets who are here today.
Senator Durbin. Thank you very much for being here.
Colonel Kelley. Cadets, this is one of those teachable
moments that you have, and so just to say, treasure this moment
because this is a piece of history in the making and you are
part of it.
I am Kevin Kelley and I am honored to be here to provide my
testimony and relate my experience in working with high school
students who are DREAMers.
I am a retired colonel in the United States Army and
currently the Director of Military Instruction for Chicago
Public Schools. In this role, I oversee the Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps programs in 45 public high schools in
Chicago. Four military services are represented among those
Junior ROTC programs; 36 of the programs are Army Junior ROTC,
four Navy, three Marine Corps, and two are Air Force-sponsored.
Six of these programs are in public school military academies
like the one we are in today. We serve nearly 11,000 students
enrolled in these Junior ROTC programs making Chicago the
largest Junior ROTC presence of any school district in the
country.
I have worked with Junior ROTC in Chicago for 11 years. I
taught Junior ROTC for 8\1/2\ years at Roberto Clemente High
School and 2\1/2\ years ago, moved to this current position
overseeing the Junior ROTC programs in the district. I am also
a State certified teacher in Illinois.
I think it is important at this point to note that the
purpose of Junior ROTC is to instill in students the values of
citizenship, service to the Nation, personal responsibility,
and a sense of accomplishment.
Junior ROTC is well-suited to this mission with its
teaching corps of retired military instructors who model these
values and teach them to our students through a robust
curriculum, and numerous co-curricular activities that include
leadership development camps, academic and drill competitions,
and service learning projects that support our communities. Our
cadets provided over 125,000 hours of service to the Chicago
community over the past year. And right behind me, there is a
blood drive going on, just as another example of our service to
the community.
Students enroll in Junior ROTC in Chicago public schools
for many reasons. Some see the structure and opportunity for
leadership development and are attracted to it. Some have
aspirations to serve the Nation in one of the armed services
and see this as preparation for that. And some take it as an
alternative to physical education. Whatever the reason, the
benefit they gain from the curriculum, and by participating in
the co-curricular activities, support the mission of motivating
them to be better citizens. And while it is not our purpose to
recruit young people for military service, when there are young
men and women who express a desire to serve, we are ready and
willing to assist them to achieve that goal.
Our most recent analysis shows that about 5 percent of our
1,600 graduating seniors last year chose to serve in the
military, either by enlisting directly into the active or
reserve forces, by applying and receiving an appointment to one
of our Nation's prestigious military academies, or by receiving
a Senior ROTC Scholarship at the college they plan to attend.
Every year we are confronted with the reality that a
certain segment of our graduating seniors will be unable to
fulfill their dreams of serving the Nation in this way. We know
of several students, some who are present in this school today,
who would be qualified based on their test scores, physical
fitness, and extracurricular participation to be competitive
for appointment to a service academy such as West Point, but
are unable to apply because of their immigration status. They
would meet the highest enlistment quality benchmarks that are
set for our military recruiting force, but if they approach the
recruiter, they cannot even apply.
These are students who have lived in the United States all
through their school years, many having arrived in this country
as infants. They have accomplished great things in our schools,
becoming leaders, scholars, and star athletes. But for many,
when they graduate from high school, the roadblocks to their
future pop up. We do not have the exact count on the number of
undocumented students in our programs, but it is our estimate--
and I would say it is a conservative estimate--that it is about
10 percent.
When we deny them the opportunities they have earned on
their own merits--academic achievement, leadership and service
in their communities--we may tie them to bonds of poverty they
would otherwise escape. We increase the chances that they
become a segment of society that draws on our social resources
that, had they been given the chance, they would be
contributing to in their own right.
Let me tell you about one of our stellar Junior ROTC
graduates who wants to serve in the Marine Corps. Alejandro
Morales, and you told his story on the senate floor last year,
and he is present here today. Alejandro was our highest ranking
cadet in the city of Chicago, earning the position of City
Corps Commander. When he graduated in 2012 he dreamed of
joining the Marine Corps. His status prevented him from
fulfilling that dream. Today, Alejandro works a nightshift from
10 p.m. until 2 a.m. to earn money to attend a Chicago City
College to continue his education.
A young man with a work ethic like this, and the drive to
succeed would, without a doubt, be an outstanding Marine, but
he cannot get past the front door of the recruiting station,
and lives in a virtual no-man's-land because he does not have
citizenship. And while he is disappointed, he is not deterred,
and he continues to pursue his dream with the hope that one day
the DREAM Act, and immigration reform, will be passed.
PREPARED STATEMENT
Recent testimony by the Department of Defense stated that
nearly 75 percent of our youth are not qualified--and you
referred to this in your opening statement--not qualified
largely due to medical conditions and weight. One way to expand
the pool of highly qualified applicants with a propensity for
service is to offer DREAMers the opportunity to serve.
I believe that if DREAMers were authorized to enlist, the
path for success for these students would open up, and they
would become outstanding servicemen and servicewomen for our
country. They would have the pathways to be all they want to
be, and our Nation--their Nation--would be stronger and safer
because of their service.
Thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Colonel (Ret.) Kevin Kelley
Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing and for inviting me
to testify today.
I am Kevin Kelley and I am honored to be here to provide my
testimony and relate my experience in working with high school students
who are DREAMers.
I am a retired Colonel in the United States Army and am currently
the Director of Military Instruction for Chicago Public Schools. In
this role, I oversee the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs
in 45 public high schools in Chicago Public Schools. Four military
services are represented among those Junior ROTC programs, with 36 of
the programs Army Junior ROTC, four Navy, three Marine Corps and two
Air Force sponsored. Six of these programs are in public school
military academies. We serve nearly 11,000 students enrolled in these
Junior ROTC programs, making Chicago the largest Junior ROTC presence
in any school district in the country.
I have worked with Junior ROTC in Chicago for 11 years. I taught
Junior ROTC for 8\1/2\ years at Roberto Clemente High School and 2\1/2\
years ago moved to my current position overseeing all the Junior ROTC
programs for the school district. I am also a State-certified teacher
in Illinois.
I think it is important at this point to note that the purpose of
JROTC is to instill in students the values of citizenship, service to
the Nation, personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment.
Junior ROTC is well-suited to this mission with its teaching corps of
retired military instructors who model these values and teach them to
our students through a robust curriculum and numerous co-curricular
activities that include leadership development camps, academic and
drill competitions, and service learning projects that support our
communities. Our cadets provided over 125,000 hours of service to the
Chicago community over the past year.
Students enroll in Junior ROTC in Chicago Public Schools for many
reasons: Some see the structure and opportunity for leadership
development and are attracted to it; some have aspirations to serve the
Nation in one of the armed services and see this as preparation for
that; and some take it as an alternative to physical education.
Whatever the reason, the benefit they gain from the curriculum and
participating in co-curricular activities support the mission of
motivating them to be better citizens.
And while it is not our purpose to recruit young people for
military service, when there are young men and women who express a
desire to serve, we are ready and willing to assist them in achieving
that goal. Our most recent analysis shows that about 5 percent of our
1,600 graduating seniors last year chose to serve in the military,
either by enlisting directly into the Active or Reserve forces, by
applying and receiving an appointment to one of our Nation's
prestigious military academies, or by receiving a Senior ROTC
Scholarship at the college they plan to attend.
Every year we are confronted with the reality that a certain
segment of our graduating seniors will be unable to fulfill their
dreams of serving the Nation in this way. We know of several students,
some who are present in this school today, who would be qualified,
based on their test scores, physical fitness, and extracurricular
participation, to be competitive for appointment to a service academy
such as West Point, but are unable to apply because of their
immigration status. They would meet the highest enlistment quality
benchmarks that are set for our military recruiting force, but if they
approach the recruiter, they are told they cannot even apply.
These are students who have lived in the United States all through
their school years, many having arrived in this country as infants.
They have accomplished great things in our schools, becoming leaders,
scholars, and star athletes. But for many, when they graduate from high
school, the road blocks to their future pop up. We do not have the
exact count on the number of undocumented students in our programs, but
our estimate is that it is about 10 percent.
When we deny them the opportunities they have earned on their own
merits--academic achievement, leadership and service in their
community--we may tie them to bonds of poverty they would otherwise
escape. We increase the chances that they become a segment of society
that draws on our social resources that, had they been given the
chance, they would be contributing to in their own right.
Let me tell you about one of our stellar Junior ROTC graduates who
wants to serve in the Marine Corps. Alejandro Morales was our highest
ranking cadet in the city, earning the position of City Corps
Commander. When he graduated in 2012 he dreamed of joining the Marine
Corps. His status prevented him from fulfilling that dream. Today,
Alejandro works a night shift from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to earn money to
attend a Chicago City College to continue his education. A young man
with a work ethic like this and the drive to succeed would without a
doubt be an outstanding Marine. But he cannot get past the front door
of the recruiting station and lives in a virtual no-man's land because
he does not have citizenship. And while he is disappointed, he is not
deterred and he continues to pursue his dream with the hope that one
day the DREAM Act and immigration reform will be passed.
Recent testimony by the Department of Defense stated that nearly 75
percent of our Nation's youth are not qualified for military service
largely due to medical conditions and weight. The witness further
stated that only 14 percent of our youth express a propensity for
military service. (DOD Testimony to House Armed Services Committee,
Military Personnel Subcommittee, January 16, 2014). One way to expand
the pool of highly qualified applicants with a propensity to service is
to offer DREAMers the opportunity to serve.
I believe that if Dreamers were authorized to enlist, the path for
these students would open up and they would become outstanding
servicemen and servicewomen for the country they love. They would have
pathways to be all they want to be, and our Nation--their Nation--would
be stronger and safer because of their service.
Senator Durbin. Thank you very much, Colonel.
Our next witness is Sergeant Oscar Vazquez, Calvary Scout
with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry
Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. He is
stationed in the joint base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. He
is a combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Sergeant Vazquez
would certainly take the prize for coming the greatest distance
to join us today, and I thank him for that. But I would also
tell you this, if I were asked to hold a hearing anywhere in
the United States to make my argument for allowing DREAMers to
enlist and could bring only one witness, it would Sergeant
Vazquez.
He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in
Mechanical Engineering, was recognized as one of the top three
outstanding graduates in his class. I thank you for attending
today. I look forward to hearing your testimony, but equally
important, I look forward to these young students hearing an
amazing life story.
Sergeant Vazquez.
STATEMENT OF SERGEANT OSCAR VAZQUEZ, U.S. ARMY, JOINT
BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON
Sergeant Vazquez. Chairman Durbin, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before the subcommittee.
My name is Sergeant Oscar Vazquez, and I currently serve as
an Army paratrooper in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th
Infantry Division stationed in joint base Elmendorf-Richardson
Alaska.
Before I begin, I would like for the record to reflect that
the testimony I am to give is my own. I can only speak for
myself and I do not speak for the United States Army, the
Department of Defense, or any other Federal agency. Nor, can I
speak for others with experiences similar to my own.
I was 12-years-old when my mother and I boarded a bus from
our village in Mexico to the border. Although I did not make
the choice to come to this country, this country quickly became
my home.
Soon after 9-11, I saw the ``Band of Brothers'' miniseries,
I knew then I wanted to join the Army. At Carl Hayden High
School, I joined Junior ROTC. I loved the order and discipline,
and was eventually awarded the Junior ROTC Officer of the Year
award. I thought this would be the beginning of a career in the
military, but when I met with the recruiter, I was told I could
not enlist because I was undocumented. I left the meeting not
knowing what to do or what was next. Knowing you cannot do
something because of a piece of paper, or lack thereof, it was
devastating.
I knew I had to figure something else to do with my life.
Joining the robotics club opened new doors for me. Working with
three of my fellow classmates, and under the supervision of two
dedicated teachers, we entered the Marine Advanced Technology
Education Center's Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition. Even
though we were high school students, we decided to enter the
college level competition because if we lost, at least it would
be against a university and not another high school.
I spent my senior year working with my team to design and
build our underwater robot we named Stinky. That summer, we
traveled to Santa Barbara, California for the competition. It
was incredible to see other underwater robots and teams from
MIT, and some of the best universities in the world. Beyond our
wildest dreams, four undocumented kids from Arizona won the
awards for Design Elegance, Technical Report, and the grand
prize for Overall Winner of the competition.
Winning the underwater robotics competition was proof that
we, as DREAMers, had something to offer to the country we
always considered our home. Although I could not contribute to
my country by joining the military, I decided I could
contribute by becoming an engineer. I fell in love with Arizona
State University during a middle school fieldtrip, but
attending ASU came with its own challenges.
In 2006, the Arizona Legislature passed the law prohibiting
undocumented students from receiving in-State financial aid.
Even though Arizona had been my home for many years, I was not
allowed to pay in-State tuition, and when this new law came
into effect, my tuition tripled. Through private scholarships
and working construction, I scraped money together to pay for
college and support my family. Despite how difficult it was, I
never gave up on the idea of getting a degree, and at
graduation, it paid off.
In 2009, I was one of the three students introduced as an
outstanding graduate during graduation, sitting only a few feet
away from President Obama. But afterwards, I did not know what
the future held. I had a degree in mechanical engineering, but
no one would hire me in this field without a legal status. I
did not want to be stuck in a low end job and not be able to
apply my degree to its full potential to contribute to my
country and support my family.
In the end, my wife and I decided that I should go back to
Mexico, a country that I left as a child, and apply to reenter
the United States legally. Even though my wife Karla, and
daughter Samantha, are U.S. citizens, the law said that I was
barred from coming back to the United States for 10 years. My
wife and I knew it would not be easy, but we wanted to do this
while my daughter was still young.
It was frustrating to be away from the family and not be
able to see my daughter grow up. Every few weeks, when my wife
had a few days off, Karla would bring Samantha to make the 3
hour drive to visit me. When they first started visiting, my
daughter did not recognize me, and it was heartbreaking as a
parent for your child not to know who you are.
I applied for a waiver of the 10-year bar so I could come
back home, but the Government denied the request. They said
that we had not documented enough hardship for my wife and
daughter due to my absence. I would have to wait another year
for the Government to evaluate my case. But thanks to you,
Senator Durbin, the Department of Homeland Security took
another look at my case and granted my waiver. Three hundred
sixty-five days after I left the United States, I was able to
return as legal resident.
Soon after I came back to the United States in August 2010,
I decided to pursue my first dream and enlist in the United
States military, in the Army. I started basic training in
February 2011. I wanted to fight for the country that raised
me. Saying I loved this country was not enough. I will let my
actions speak for themselves.
In May, shortly before I finished basic training, I became
a U.S. citizen. A couple of months later, I was deployed to
Afghanistan. Serving in the Army fulfilled my dream of going to
airborne school and jumping out of planes like they did in
``Band of Brothers''. I looked forward to going to Afghanistan
because I wanted to go into combat and protect my country.
Serving in the Army allowed me to contribute more fully to the
country and make it safer. It has been a great honor to serve
my country.
Today, our son, Oskar Maximus, is 2-years-old. He was born
the day after I returned from deployment R&R. Samantha is now
5-years-old and loves kindergarten. Although we have grown to
love Alaska, we look forward to coming back to Arizona this
summer, where I will apply what I learned at ASU and the Army
to continue my career in mechanical engineering.
PREPARED STATEMENT
Over the years, I have met many DREAMers who also want to
join the military and serve the country that they love. I
sincerely hope that one day they will be able to follow in my
footsteps and enlist. I believe my story is just one example of
what DREAMers can do if they are given the chance to come out
of the shadows and give back to our country.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I look
forward to answering any of your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Sergeant Oscar Vazquez
Chairman Durbin, thank you for the opportunity to testify before
the subcommittee. My name is Sergeant Oscar Vazquez. I was 12 years old
when my mother and I boarded a bus from our village in Mexico to the
border. Although I did not make the choice to come to America, this
country quickly became my home.
Ever since I saw the ``Band of Brothers'' miniseries, I knew I
wanted to join the Army. At Carl Hayden High School, I joined JROTC. I
loved the order and discipline and was eventually awarded the JROTC
Officer of the Year. I thought this would be the beginning of a career
in the military. But when I met with a recruiter, I was told that I
couldn't enlist because I was undocumented. I left that meeting not
knowing what to do or what was next. Knowing you can't do something
because of a piece of paper or lack thereof is devastating.
I knew I had to figure out what else I could do with my life.
Joining the robotics club opened new doors for me. Working with three
of my fellow classmates and under the supervision of two dedicated
teachers, we entered the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center's
Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition. Even though we were high school
students, we decided to enter the college level competition because if
we lost, at least it would be against a university and not another high
school.
I spent my senior year working with my team to design and build our
underwater robot, Stinky. That summer, we traveled to Santa Barbara,
California for the competition. It was incredible to see other
underwater robots and teams from MIT and some of the best universities
in the world. Beyond our wildest dreams, four undocumented kids from
Arizona won the awards for Design Elegance, Technical Report, and the
grand prize for Overall Winner of the competition.
Winning the underwater robotics competition was proof that we as
Dreamers had something to offer the country we always considered to be
our home. Although I could not contribute to my country by joining the
military, I decided I could contribute by becoming an engineer. I fell
in love with Arizona State University during a middle school field
trip, but attending ASU came with its own challenges. In 2006, the
Arizona Legislature passed a law prohibiting undocumented students from
receiving in-State financial aid. Even though Arizona had been my home
for many years, I wasn't allowed to pay in-State tuition. When this new
law went into effect, my tuition tripled. Through private scholarships
and working construction, I scraped the money together to pay for
college and support my family. Despite how difficult it was, I never
gave up on the idea of getting a degree, and at graduation it paid off.
In 2009, I was one of three students introduced as an outstanding
graduate during graduation, sitting only feet away from President
Obama. But afterwards, I didn't know what the future held. I had a
degree in mechanical engineering, but no one would hire me in this
field without legal status. I didn't want to be stuck in a low-end job
and not be able to apply my degree to its full potential to contribute
to my country and support my family.
In the end, my wife and I decided that I should go back to Mexico--
a country I left as a child--and apply to re-enter the United States
legally. Even though my wife, Karla, and daughter, Samantha, are U.S.
citizens, the law said that I was barred from coming back to the United
States for 10 years. My wife and I knew it wouldn't be easy, but we
wanted to do this while my daughter was still young.
It was frustrating to be away from my family and not be able to see
my daughter grow up. Every few weeks, when my wife had a few days off,
Karla would bring Samantha and make the 3-hour drive to visit me. When
they first started visiting, my daughter didn't recognize me after not
seeing me for so long. It is heartbreaking as a parent for your child
to not know who you are.
I applied for a waiver of the 10-year bar so I could come back
home, but the government denied the request. They said that we hadn't
documented enough hardship for my wife and daughter due to my absence.
I would have to wait another year for the government to evaluate my
appeal. But thanks to Senator Durbin, the Department of Homeland
Security took another look at my case and granted my waiver. Three-
hundred and sixty one days after I left the United States, I was able
to return as legal resident.
Soon after I came back to the United States in August 2010, I
decided to pursue my first dream and enlist in the United States Army.
I started basic training in February 2011. I wanted to fight for the
country that raised me, I wanted to prove my allegiance by my actions.
In May, shortly before I finished one station unit training, I became a
U.S. citizen. A couple of months later, I was deployed to Afghanistan
with the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division. Serving
in the Army fulfilled my dream of going to airborne school and jumping
out of planes like they did in ``Band of Brothers.''
It has been a great honor to serve my country. I looked forward to
going to Afghanistan because I wanted to go into combat and protect the
United States. Serving in the Army allowed me to contribute more fully
to this country and make it safer.
Today, I am stationed at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in
Alaska. I am a cavalry scout with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry
Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry
Division. Our 2-year-old son, Oskar Maximus, was born the day after I
returned home for R&R from Afghanistan. Samantha is now 5 years old and
loves kindergarten. Although we have grown to love Alaska, we are
looking forward to coming back home to Arizona this summer, where I
will apply what I learned at ASU and the Army to continue my career in
mechanical engineering.
Over the years, I have met many Dreamers who also want to join the
military and serve the country that they love. I sincerely hope that
one day they will be able to follow in my footsteps and enlist. I
believe my story is just one example of what Dreamers can do if they
are given the chance to come out of the shadows and give back to our
country.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to
answering your questions.
Senator Durbin. Thank you.
Senator Durbin. I told you it was an amazing story. They
ought to make a movie out of it. In fact, they are and we look
forward to seeing it.
Gregory Chen is the Director of Advocacy for the American
Immigration Lawyers Association. Previously, he was Director
for Legislative Affairs from Lutheran Immigration Refugee
Service and Director for Policy and Advocacy for the U.S.
Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. A graduate of Harvard
and New York University Law School, Mr. Chen clerked for the
Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals.
Thank you for joining us, and please proceed.
STATEMENT OF MR. GREGORY CHEN, DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY,
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Mr. Chen. Thank you, Chairman Durbin.
As Director of Advocacy of AILA, I am honored to testify
here at Phoenix Military Academy, and honestly, inspired to be
able to be part of this important hearing. And I also want to
thank you, Senator Durbin, for your tireless efforts to win
immigration reform, not just with these incredible efforts of
the senate bill last year, but your continuing efforts to get
the DREAM Act passed. AILA supports those and we will continue
to fight alongside you.
AILA runs the Military Assistance Program which has
assisted over 700 service members and their families. Through
the MAP program, we have come to understand the incredible
contributions and the sacrifices that foreign service members
have made to our Nation, as well as the challenges they face as
immigrants serving in the military.
To begin with, it is well-recognized that the U.S. armed
forces need to recruit more immigrants. According to a 2011
Center for Naval Analyses research, immigrants add valuable
diversity, immigrants often speak other languages than English,
and immigrants also perform extremely well often having
significantly lower attrition rates than other recruits.
The U.S. military has taken important steps to recruit
immigrants. In addition, AILA has two changes as
recommendations that could be implemented immediately.
First, the Department of Defense can interpret enlistment
law to allow recipients of DACA to enlist just as you have
already suggested. Current law restricts enlistment to citizens
and lawful permitted residents, by and large. But the law, as
already has been mentioned, also gives the military broad
authority to enlist other immigrants if it is, quote, ``vital
to the national interest,'' a term used in the statute.
The military's current use of this authority excludes DACA
recipients, but I am not aware of any statutory definition, or
legislative history, that restricts the meaning of ``vital to
the nation interest'' in the way the military is currently
interpreting it. So DOD, the Department of Defense, can
immediately broaden its interpretation to encompass DACA
recipients.
DACA beneficiaries are U.S. educated, they have good moral
character, they reside in the United States for 5 years or
more, and they can meet other enlistment requirements such as
passing the DHS background check, and the NCIC criminal check.
As of March 2014, more than half a million young people have
been granted DACA; that is a huge pool of potential applicants.
Increasing the military enlistment pool to include those
granted DACA is vital to our Nation's ability to maintain a
highly qualified, diverse, and inclusive all-volunteer force.
Second, the Department of Defense should clarify that an
otherwise qualified applicant can enlist even if he or she
lives with someone who is unauthorized, or has a dependent who
is unauthorized, or is married to someone who is unauthorized.
The Army, Marines, and Navy currently bar such individuals
from enlistment, however. Their position is apparently based on
a view that a person has committed the crime of harboring an
alien by merely living with someone who is undocumented. AILA
strongly disagrees with that view.
No U.S. circuit court of appeals, these are the Federal
circuit courts, has found that living with an undocumented
person with knowledge of that person's status, is sufficient to
constitute harboring. And nearly all of the courts have ruled
that more evidence of harboring is needed than just
cohabitation. So it makes little sense that the U.S. military
is taking a view contrary to the overwhelming weight of Federal
court jurisprudence. The armed forces have the legal authority
to allow these people to enlist and it should do so.
Now excluding from enlistment those individuals who live
with an unauthorized person also runs counter to the current
practices of both the Department of Defense and DHS.
First of all, AILA's MAP program has assisted many service
members who have undocumented spouses. Typically, the
Department of Defense does not discharge those service members
for harboring that alien. But it actually helps them and their
spouse in working through that situation.
With respect to the Department of Homeland Security,
secondly, DHS supports military personnel who have undocumented
family by granting them parole and has set up a new policy, as
of just this past November, regarding parole for those families
and the undocumented family member.
AILA's MAP has helped several individuals in such cases
such as a Navy hospital man named David, whose wife, Mary, was
undocumented. Mary was brought to the United States when she
was 6 months old. They met in high school and got married after
he enlisted. After training, David was deployed to Afghanistan.
Now, he wrote in his letter supporting his wife's
application for parole, quote, ``The truth is that the
separation from my beloved wife has already been one of the
most difficult things I have ever done. I cannot imagine a
level of hardship and anxiety I would face if she would have to
go back to Mexico.'' Now eventually, Mary was granted parole,
and that gave them both much greater peace of mind.
So it makes no sense that both Department of Defense,
Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Federal courts
all have indicated that the Department of Defense has the legal
authority to do this and the policy to support it. So people
who have somebody who is undocumented, that is their spouse or
is a dependent, can certainly be enlisted.
Finally, in addition to steps that the Department of
Defense can take, AILA recommends that congress take real
action. First, it should enact the DREAM Act as soon as
possible. DREAM Act could be done alone or as part of the
Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that the senate passed
just last year.
In addition to offering legalization for a large population
of young, unauthorized people, the DREAM Act would enable the
U.S. military to draw on a larger, highly qualified, and
diverse pool of candidates.
AILA also supports other bills like the H.R. 435 bill in
the House sponsored by Congressman Coffman, which would broaden
the pool of those eligible to enlist.
PREPARED STATEMENT
In closing, historically, immigrants have made enormous
contributions to our Nation's military, fighting in every war
since the Revolution. Many have given their lives. Many have
become citizens and some even were undocumented as service
members. Immigrants are patriotic and want to serve, including
many of those who are here with us today.
Now is the time for our executive and legislative branches
to do everything they can to create more opportunity for
immigrants to serve, and in so doing, meet the needs of our
Nation better.
Thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gregory Chen
Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the committee: I am Greg
Chen, Director of Advocacy of the American Immigration Lawyers
Association (AILA). I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you
today concerning the issue of the military enlistment of immigrants and
the important role immigrants have played in the U.S. armed forces.
AILA is the national bar association of immigration lawyers and has
more than 13,000 attorney and law professor members. For more than 60
years, the association has worked to promote justice, to advocate for
fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, and to advance the
quality of immigration and nationality law and practice.
In 2008, AILA established the Military Assistance Program (MAP) to
provide immigration legal services to active duty members of the U.S.
armed forces, as well as to reservists, veterans and their immediate
families. AILA MAP operates with the support of the Judge Advocate's
General Legal Assistance Office (JAG) and assists JAG attorneys with
complex immigration law questions. Since its founding, AILA MAP has
assisted more than 700 servicemembers and their families, and has about
375 volunteer immigration lawyers who handle cases on a pro bono basis.
AILA MAP's goal is to support the morale, welfare, and readiness of
U.S. service men and service women, who in many instances are deployed
while leaving a family member behind, often in a tenuous or uncertain
immigration status. Through MAP, AILA attorneys have come to understand
the incredible contributions and sacrifices foreign-born servicemembers
have made to our Nation's military as well as the challenges they face
as immigrants serving in the military.
immigrant contributions to the u.s. military
For decades, indeed for centuries and in every war fought by the
United States, immigrants have made critical contributions to our
nation's military. Immigrants have been eligible to enlist since the
Revolutionary War and have served with great distinction. In June 2010,
approximately 16,500 noncitizens were serving in the military, making
up 1.4 percent of the enlisted force.\1\ The total percentage of
immigrants--including both noncitizen and citizens--serving in the
military is higher than that figure since many immigrant servicemembers
have naturalized. In recent years even more foreign-born servicemembers
became citizens and did so at a faster rate due to changes in
naturalization rules to expedite the process.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ``Population Representation in the Military Services: Fiscal
Year 2010 Summary Report,'' p. 39, Department of Defense, http://
prhome.defense.gov/portals/52/Documents/POPREP/poprep2010/summary/
PopRep10Summ.pdf.
\2\ Molly F. McIntosh and Seema Sayala, with David Gregory. Non-
Citizens in the Enlisted U.S. Military. CNA Research Memorandum
D0025768.A2/Final, November 2011, https://www.cna.org/sites/default/
files/research/Non%20Citizens%20in%20the%20Enlisted%20US%20Military%20
D0025768%20A2.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has long been an American tradition that service in the armed
forces can lead to U.S. citizenship. Immigrants who have served in the
U.S. military and by so doing earned their citizenship include Alfred
Rascon, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who won the Medal of
Honor during the Vietnam War; he later became a U.S. citizen and
eventually the director of the Selective Service System. Immigrants
also have been promoted to the highest ranks of the U.S. military; most
notable is General John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, who came to the United States from Poland shortly
after World War II.
Even undocumented immigrants have contributed to the Armed Forces.
For example, an AILA MAP attorney, Neil O'Donnell, represented Luis
Lopez, who served in the Army despite being undocumented and was later
assisted by his commanding officer to obtain citizenship. This is a
summary of the case:
Luis Lopez was 8 years old in 1990 when his family came to the
United States from Mexico on tourist visas. The family
overstayed the visas. Luis visited an Army recruitment office
after finishing high school, but was asked for a green card or
a birth certificate. Luis gave the recruiter a fake ``birth
abstract'' that stated he was born in Los Angeles County. He
served in the Army and was deployed to Iraq twice and then to
Afghanistan. During his service, he was awarded more than a
dozen accolades. He was given commendations for his service in
Afghanistan as a section chief for an airborne field artillery
battalion's radar system.
In 2010, he informed his supervisors that he was an unauthorized
immigrant and took steps to apply for citizenship. His
application was based on the Immigration and Nationality Act of
1952 which says that foreign nationals who have ``served
honorably'' during wartime may be naturalized ``whether or not
[they have been] lawfully admitted to the United States for
permanent residence.'' Luis's commanding officer provided a
recommendation letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) that Luis be awarded citizenship. Luis was
granted citizenship and naturalized in 2011.
Immigrant servicemembers are loyal to the United States and heed
the call to fight for the principles of freedom and democracy just as
native-born soldiers do. For noncitizens who can meet requirements to
enlist and serve honorably, serving in the U.S. military offers a
unique path to citizenship. Through service immigrants prove their
allegiance to their new homeland and integrate more quickly into
American society. Their service carries on a proud and unquestioned
tradition in our Nation of immigrants.
recruiting more immigrants will help the u.s. meet its needs
The need for a broad, highly qualified and diverse pool of talent
to join the military has been widely recognized. In Army magazine's
April 2014 volume, Major General Allen Batchelet, the commanding
general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command wrote: ``[Y]outh interest
in military service is decreasing, and fewer than one in four young
people meet enlistment qualifications.'' Today only 40 percent of young
people have ever spoken with a military recruiter, down from 60 percent
10 years ago. Major General Batchelet called for more aggressive
recruiting policies from a broader talent pool and for changing the law
to permit the enlistment of young undocumented immigrants.
Previous reports reached similar conclusions. In April 2005, CNA
published a comprehensive report on immigrants in the military. The
report noted that immigrants add valuable diversity to the armed forces
and perform extremely well, often having significantly lower attrition
rates than other recruits. The report also pointed out that ``much of
the growth in the recruitment-eligible population will come from
immigration.'' The February 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review highlighted
the key role that immigrants play in the Department of Defense (DOD)
and called for increased recruitment in all branches of the military of
immigrants who are proficient in languages other than English--
particularly Arabic, Farsi, and Chinese.
In 2010, DOD published its annual report, ``Population
Representation in the Military Services,'' and examined the noncitizen
population and eligibility-to-serve criteria, such as being a lawful
permanent resident, having a high school diploma, and having English-
language proficiency. The report estimated that 1.2 million noncitizens
in the prime recruiting ages of 18 to 29 would have met the eligibility
criteria in 2010.\3\ Moreover, an estimated 85 percent of the eligible
noncitizen population spoke a foreign language at home (39 percent
Spanish, 5 percent Chinese, 10 percent another Asian or Pacific Island
language, 15 percent languages from India, and 4 percent Middle Eastern
languages).\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ ``Population Representation in the Military Services: fiscal
year 2010 Summary Report,'' p. 41, Department of Defense; http://
prhome.defense.gov/portals/52/Documents/POPREP/poprep2010/summary/
PopRep10Summ.pdf.
\4\ Ibid.
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immigration and military enlistment law
Recognizing the important role immigrants play in the military,
Congress has passed laws that enable the foreign-born to enlist and
that facilitate their naturalization. Since 1952, the Immigration and
Nationality Act has given broad authority to the president to expedite
citizenship for immigrant U.S. military servicemembers. In the past two
decades, the government has used this authority to help servicemembers
naturalize by reducing wait times, waiving residence and physical
presence requirements, and enabling naturalization to take place on
completion of boot camp.
In 2003, the Army launched a program to recruit and train linguists
and interpreters to address the severe shortage of U.S. military
linguists who are fluent in dialects common to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Immigrants have been crucial to the program's success: Two-thirds of
program recruits were legal immigrants; while one-third were U.S.
citizens. In 2006, Congress created a special visa program for
immigrant interpreters who provided assistance as civilians to the
armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2006, Congress substantially changed the military enlistment
statutes, repealing the separate statutes that had previously governed
enlistment in each of the services and replacing them with a single
statute. The 2006 law establishes a bar against unauthorized
individuals enlisting in the military and requires lawful permanent
resident status for enlistment. The law allows for an exception for
those whose enlistment is deemed ``vital to the national interest.''
This provision is discussed further below.
improving government policy and practice on immigrant enlistment
Current military practices could be significantly improved to
better meet the needs of the U.S. Government to recruit and maintain a
diverse and highly qualified professional military. AILA recommends two
changes that can be implemented immediately:
--Broaden the interpretation of ``vital to the national interest''
under 10 USC Sec. 504.
--Clarify the enlistment eligibility of individuals who live with or
have unauthorized spouses and dependents.
Interpretation of ``Vital to the National Interest'' Under 10 USC
Sec. 504
The 2006 uniform enlistment practices statute effectively restricts
immigrant enlistment to lawful permanent residents. But the statute
also includes a broad exception where a service secretary has
determined that a person's enlistment is ``vital to the national
interest.'' The 2006 law gave the secretaries of the separate services
authority to waive the requirement that a person seeking to enlist have
U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status if they determine
``that such enlistment is vital to the national interest.'' Using this
statutory authority, in 2008, Defense Secretary Gates authorized a new
pilot program titled ``Military Accessions Vital to the National
Interest'' (MAVNI), under which up to 1,000 legal noncitizens with
critical skills would be allowed to join the U.S. armed forces each
year. The annual quota has since been increased though it is still
limited to 1,500.
Under the MAVNI program, the Army, Navy, and Air Force began
recruiting certain noncitizens who were not lawful permanent residents
but were nonetheless lawfully present in the United States. So far,
however, MAVNI has been restricted to individuals who are licensed
healthcare professionals in certain medical specialties or fluent in
one of 35 strategic languages--not including Spanish. MAVNI also
restricts enlistment to persons who hold specific non-immigrant visa
statuses, temporary protected status, or asylee or refugee status.
Persons granted deferred action are not eligible for MAVNI.
Unfortunately, this interpretation precludes an enormous pool of
foreign-born individuals from enlisting.
DOD can immediately broaden the interpretation of ``vital to the
national interest'' under 10 USC Sec. 504(b)(2), which states that the
secretary of defense ``may authorize the enlistment of a person not
described in paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that such
enlistment is vital to the national interest.'' AILA is not aware of
any statutory definition or legislative history that would restrict the
meaning of ``vital to the national interest'' to the two MAVNI
categories (individuals with certain language skills and healthcare
professionals) that DOD has announced to date, or to the specific
immigration statuses that DOD has selected for the MAVNI program.
Accordingly, it is at the discretion of the service secretaries to use
the ``vital to the national interest'' language to meet any and all
recruitment needs.
Specifically, DOD can use the ``vital to the national interest''
clause to enlist those who have received grants of deferred action
under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative,
without forcing those with DACA to fit within the narrow constraints of
the MAVNI program. As of March 2014, more than half a million people
had been granted DACA. Among them are these exemplary individuals who
are well qualified to serve their country in the Armed Forces:
Juan Rios was brought to the United States from Mexico when he
was 10. Juan was a leader in Air Force JROTC. He was group
commander and armed drill team captain, and rose to the rank of
Cadet Lieutenant Colonel. Juan dreamed of attending the Air
Force Academy, but he was unable to do so because he is
undocumented. Instead, Juan enrolled in Arizona State
University. In 2010, he graduated with a degree in aeronautical
engineering.
Gaby Pacheco was brought to the United States from Ecuador when
she was 7 years old. She was the highest-ranking JROTC student
and received the highest score on the military aptitude test at
her high school in Miami, Florida. The Air Force tried to
recruit Gaby, but she was unable to enlist because of her
undocumented status. Gaby earned three degrees from Miami Dade
College, where she was elected student government president and
statewide student body president.
Jhon Magdaleno was brought to the United States from Venezuela
when he was 9 years old. During high school, he was the 4th
highest ranking officer and Commander of the Air Honor Society
in his JROTC unit. Jhon is currently an honor student majoring
in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia
Institute of Technology, one of the top engineering schools in
the country. He works in a biomedical engineering lab at the
university researching glaucoma. He has also recently secured
an internship with Eastman Chemical Company.
The enlistment of people under DACA is clearly vital to the
national interest because DACA beneficiaries are U.S.-educated persons
who have good moral character, who have resided in the United States
for at least 5 years, and who can meet other military enlistment
standards, including passing a DHS background check and a National
Crime Information Center check. Increasing the military recruitment
pool to include those granted DACA is vital to our Nation's ability to
maintain a highly qualified, diverse and inclusive all volunteer force.
Enlistment Eligibility of Individuals With Unauthorized Spouses and
Dependents
DOD should clarify that an individual is not barred from enlistment
if he or she lives with, or is married to, an unauthorized person or
has unauthorized dependents. Last year Kathleen Welker of the Army
Recruiting Command confirmed that Army policy bars these individuals
from enlistment.\5\ The Marine Corps and Navy have specific written
regulations barring the enlistment of such persons. The bar against
these individuals is allegedly based on the view that a person has
committed the crime of harboring under the Immigration and Nationality
Act, 8 USC Sec. 1324, if he or she merely co-habitats with someone who
is not authorized to be in the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Transcript of NPR interview by Jude Joffe-Block with Kathleen
Welker broadcast on December 16, 2013. http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/
12/16/military-undocumented-family. See also ``New Immigration Hope For
Military Dependents, But Enlistment Hurdles Remain,'' Fronteras,
November 20, 2013, http://m.fronterasdesk.org/content/9256/new-
immigration-hope-military-
dependents-enlistment-hurdles-remain.
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AILA strongly disagrees with this view. The harboring statute
states in part that it is a punishable offense to:
knowing[ly] or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has
come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation
of law, conceal[], harbor[], or shield[] from detection, or
attempt[] to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such
alien in any place, including any building or any means of
transportation. [emphasis added]
No U.S. circuit court of appeals that has considered the issue has
found that co-habitating with someone of unauthorized status, with
knowledge of his or her unauthorized status, is sufficient to
constitute harboring. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
has defined ``harboring'' as conduct ``tending to substantially
facilitate an alien's remaining in the United States illegally and to
prevent government authorities from detecting the alien's unlawful
presence.'' Lozano v. City of Hazelton, 620 F.3d 170, 223 (3d Cir.
2010) (emphasis in original). The Second Circuit and Eleventh Circuit
have applied similar definitions. See United States v. Kim, 193 F.3d
567, 574 (2d Cir. 1999) and United States v. Chang Qin Zheng, 306 F.3d
1080, 1086 (11th Cir. 2002). Although not all the circuit courts of
appeals have held that a showing of concealment is necessary to meet
the definition of harboring, I am not aware of any Federal court in
which someone has been convicted of harboring merely because the
individual lived with an unauthorized person with knowledge of that
person's status.
It makes little sense that the various branches of the military
would take a view contrary to the weight of Federal court
jurisprudence. Indeed, the current Army, Navy, and Marine Corps policy
is a recent development that had not previously been applied by any of
these service branches. The secretary of each of the services has the
authority to allow otherwise qualified applicants who live with or are
married to unauthorized persons to enlist.
Excluding from enlistment those individuals who live with an
unauthorized person also runs counter to the policies and practices of
both DOD and DHS. DOD does not discharge Americans from military
service when their spouses and children fall out of status. AILA MAP
has assisted many spouses of servicemen or servicewomen who come to the
United States on a visitor visa, or another kind of visa, and then fall
out of status by overstaying the visa. In such cases, the armed forces
do not discharge the service member out of concern that he or she is
committing the criminal act of harboring an unauthorized person.
In November 2013, USCIS issued a memorandum on the granting of
parole requests made on behalf of the spouses, children, and parents of
active-duty military personnel, reserve members, and veterans, when
those spouses, children and parents are already physically present in
the United States without inspection or admission. The parole-in-place
policy is intended to protect military personnel who have undocumented
spouses, children or parents by easing the stress and anxiety placed on
military service members and veterans when their family members lack
immigration status. The memorandum notes that ``[m]ilitary preparedness
can potentially be adversely affected if active members . . . who can
be quickly called into active duty, worry about the immigration status
of their spouses, parents and children.'' The USCIS parole-in-place
policy makes it clear that these military personnel are not viewed as
harboring an unauthorized person. Moreover, the policy is designed to
support them and their families and allow the unauthorized persons to
obtain valid immigration status.
AILA MAP has helped several individuals in these circumstances. For
example, the following case was handled by attorney Grant Godfrey:
David is a U.S. citizen Navy hospitalman and the son of a Navy
servicewoman. David's wife Mary, who was undocumented, was
brought to the United States when she was 6 months old. David
and Mary met in high school and got married a year later after
he enlisted. Mary lived with David's mother as David was
stationed around the country for training and then was deployed
to Afghanistan. Because of the difficulties of getting
documents from David while he was in a warzone, the filing of
Mary's application for parole-in-place was delayed until David
returned. Mary was then granted parole-in-place; 6 months
later, she received her green card. Mary has no criminal
history other than a ticket for driving without headlights and
for driving without a license for which she paid the fine in
full.
In his letter in support of his wife's application for parole-in-
place, David wrote: ``In the event that my wife was forced to
return to Mexico and were subject to the 10-year bar, then I
would make every effort to move to Mexico so I could be with
her. Since I signed a 5 year enlistment contract with the Navy,
before I could do so I would either have to wait that out or I
would have to try to get discharged. I also would be giving up
my military career to move to a different country with an
unfamiliar culture that speaks a language I don't understand. I
imagine that my job prospects would be very bad, and I have a
great fear that my status as an American, not to mention a
military veteran, would make me a target for violence. The
truth is that the separation from my beloved wife has already
been one of the most difficult things I have ever done. If her
application were denied, then what has been a very trying
situation would only be compounded, and I cannot imagine the
level of hardship and anxiety I would face if she would have to
face the uncertainty of going back to Mexico, not to mention
the uncertainty inherent in my own efforts to reunite with her
in Mexico.''
reforming immigration and military enlistment law
AILA recommends that Congress reform both immigration law and
military enlistment law to expand the opportunities for immigrants to
enlist. AILA supports passage of the Development, Relief, and Education
for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, or a comparable proposal enacted
separately or as part of a broader immigration bill such as the one
included in the Senate-passed bill, S. 744. The DREAM Act would allow
young people who have grown up in this country, have graduated from
high school, have been acculturated as Americans, and have no serious
criminal record to go to college or to serve in the military and
thereby legalize their immigration status. In addition to offering
legalization for a large population of young unauthorized people, a
goal that AILA supports for its own sake, the passage of the DREAM Act
would enable the U.S. military to draw on a larger, highly qualified
and diverse pool of candidates that will be essential to meeting the
military's and America's needs.
AILA also supports H.R. 435, the Military Enlistment Opportunity
Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO).
The Military Enlistment Opportunity Act would broaden the pool of those
eligible to enlist in the U.S. armed forces beyond citizens and lawful
permanent residents, and those who are eligible under the current MAVNI
program. The bill would allow persons who have resided continuously in
a lawful status in the United States for at least 2 years, as well DACA
recipients, to enlist. The measure further provides a path to lawful
permanent status for both categories of enlistees by amending the
current process.
Thank you again for the opportunity to address this important
topic.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chen.
Our next witness is Cadet Command Sergeant Major Mario
Rodriguez, a senior at Phoenix Military Academy. He was
selected as Cadet Command Sergeant Major through a very
comprehensive, competitive selection system. CSM Rodriguez has
a 4.52 GPA. His goal in life includes attending the U.S. Naval
Academy.
Cadet Command Sergeant Major Rodriguez, the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF SERGEANT MARIO RODRIGUEZ, CADET COMMAND
SERGEANT MAJOR, PHOENIX MILITARY ACADEMY
Cadet Sergeant Rodriguez. I am Cadet Command Sergeant Major
Mario Rodriguez. I am a cadet in Chicago's Phoenix Military
Academy High School and, sir, I am an American. I do not
possess the official documents required by the Department of
Homeland Security but, sir, I am truly an American.
I am an American because I love my country. I am an
American because I have respected and followed all of my
country's laws. I am an American because I have dedicated
myself to doing all that I can to make my community and my
county a better place. I am an American because I am ready and
willing to support and defend our Nation's Constitution against
all those who threaten it. I am an American because citizenship
rests more in one's devotion and love for their country, than a
mere accident of birth.
My becoming of an American began when I was 8-years-old.
Upon arriving in the United States, my parents turned their
backs on everything they had secured for their family in
Mexico, and decided to raise my brother and I with the mere
notion of earning a higher paycheck so that they could provide
us with a better life.
Like many young children, I had notions and visions of
becoming an astronaut or a cowboy, but I knew, always knew,
that I wanted to become someone who positively influenced and
impacted the lives of many others. At that point in my life,
however, I was afraid to be different and stand out from among
my peers. Later, I learned to utilize my weaknesses as guides
for my academic and social transformation.
Living in the United States, I had the misfortune of seeing
my parents struggle due to their lack of identification. This
has cost them jobs and raises at work, and prevented them from
fully participating as citizens.
Recently, this lack of paperwork, or forms of
identification, prevented me from expanding my own education. I
had the grades, the GPA, the extracurricular activities to
apply to summer programs, but upon applying for financial aid,
the organizations asked questions I had no answer to. I could
not prove my status, provide official identification, or
provide the necessary paperwork for aid.
With the help of my mentors from a college preparatory
program called Minds Matter, my counselors, my librarian, I
sought to create my official identity. The few months after
turning eighteen were busy. I obtained an ID from the Mexican
Consulate, a bank account, Deferred Action status, my work
permit, and a Social Security number. These accomplishments
signify not only my determination to excel in a country where
the law becomes a challenge for immigrants from becoming active
participants in its Government, they also demonstrate my
ability to accomplish so much in a very short time, period of
time.
It is not the end, however. Next in line are my driver's
license, State I.D., my passport and, beyond that, the pursuit
of the American status that will grant me an identity other
than that of an alien immigrant. I have learned to utilize the
available gateways to solve my problems legally and, though it
has been a rough path, I am glad that I am preparing myself for
what is to come. With this, my goal has been to join the armed
forces to serve my country in the Navy service and safety, to
maintain our Nation's men, prepared and protected.
Through it, I want to earn degrees in business
administration, and project management, and operations
management, and as well as in human resources management. As a
result, I will be fulfilling my aspirations of leading others
into impacting the lives of many more in the process of
building stronger leaders in those key areas.
Unfortunately for me, my dream cannot be accomplished due
to the lack of legal documents that would otherwise enable me
to expand my potential of self-improvement as a leader in our
Nation's armed forces and in the civilian world. This
impediment, nonetheless, cannot be overcome without the
consideration of Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration
reform.
Even then, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the
arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards
justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing; it
does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our
own ways put our hands on that arc and we bend it in the
direction of justice.
PREPARED STATEMENT
Senator Durbin, I ask that you and the Congress act in all
deliberate speed to start bending that moral arc toward the
direction of justice, so that I, and my fellow Americans
sharing this common predicament, can live our dreams and start
bending that moral arc for others.
I ask that you grant us these opportunities, these dreams,
to show our true potential and patriotism to this country, our
Nation.
Thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Cadet Command Sergeant Major Mario Rodriguez
Thank you Chairman Durbin for inviting me to testify today.
I am Cadet Command Sergeant Major Mario Rodriguez. I'm a Cadet in
Chicago's Phoenix Military Academy High School and I am an American. I
do not possess the official documents required by the Department of
Homeland Security, but I am an American. I'm an American because I love
my country. I'm an American because I have respected and followed all
of my country's laws. I'm an American because I've dedicated myself to
doing all I can to make my community and county better. I'm an American
because I'm ready and willing to support and defend our Nation's
Constitution against all those who threaten it. I'm an American because
citizenship rests more in one's devotion and love for their country
than mere accident of birth.
My becoming an American began when I was 8 years old. Upon arriving
in the United States, my parents turned their backs on everything they
had secured for their family in Mexico and decided to raise my brother
and me with the mere notion of earning a higher paycheck so that they
could provide us with a better life.
Like many young children, I had visions of becoming an astronaut or
a cowboy, but I always knew that I wanted to become someone who
positively influenced and impacted the lives of others. At that point
of my life, however, I was afraid to be different and stand out from my
peers. Later, I learned to utilize my weaknesses as guides for my
academic and social transformation.
Living in the United States, I had the misfortune of seeing my
parents struggle due to their lack of identification. This has cost
them jobs and raises at work, and prevented them from fully
participating as citizens. Recently, this lack of paperwork or forms of
identification prevented me from expanding my own education: I had the
grades, the GPA, and the extracurricular activities to apply to summer
programs, but upon applying for financial aid, the organizations asked
questions I could not answer to. I could not prove my status, provide
official identification, or produce the necessary paperwork for aid.
With the help of my mentors from a college preparatory program
called Minds Matter, my counselors, and librarian, I sought to create
my official identity. The few months after turning 18 were busy: I
obtained an ID from the Mexican Consulate, a bank account, Deferred
Action status, my work permit, and a Social Security number. These
accomplishments signify not only my determination to excel in a country
where the law becomes a challenge for immigrants from becoming active
participants in its government and economy. They also demonstrate my
ability to accomplish so much in a short period of time.
It is not the end, however. Next in line are my driver's license,
State I.D., my passport, and, beyond that, the pursuit of the American
status that will grant me an identity other than that of an ``alien''
immigrant. I've learned to utilize the available gateways to solve my
problems legally and, though it has been a rough path, I'm glad that
I'm preparing myself for what is to come.
My goal has been to join the Armed Forces. I want to serve my
country in the Navy's Service and Safety community to help keep our
Nation's sailors prepared and protected. I hope to earn degrees in
Business Administration in Project Management and Operations
Management, Culinary Arts, and Human Resource Management. As a result,
I will be fulfilling my aspirations of leading others into impacting
the lives of many more.
Unfortunately, for me, my dream cannot be accomplished due to the
lack of legal documents that would otherwise enable me to expand my
potential for self-improvement as a leader in our Nation's Armed Forces
and in the civilian world. This impediment cannot be overcome without
the consideration of Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration
reform or with the Defense Department authorizing the enlistment of
Dreamers.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the arc of the moral
universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards
justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends
because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend
it in the direction of justice. Senator Durbin, I ask that you and the
Congress act in ``all deliberate speed'' to start bending that moral
arc toward the direction of justice, so that I and my fellow Americans
sharing this common predicament can live our dreams and start bending
that moral arc for others.
I ask that you grant us these opportunities--these dreams--to show
our true potential and patriotism to this country, our Nation.
Senator Durbin. Thank you very much, Cadet Sergeant Major
Rodriguez.
Cadet Captain Jessica Calderon is Company Commander at
Phoenix Military Academy. Cadet Calderon is a junior and has a
4.0 GPA. She is a leader on Phoenix's city champion Raider
Team, a Junior ROTC Military Adventure Squad. She is also an
Illinois Institute of Technology Boeing Scholar. Her dream is
to attend West Point.
Thank you for joining us, and please proceed.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN JESSICA CALDERON, CADET CAPTAIN,
PHOENIX MILITARY ACADEMY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Cadet Captain Calderon. My name is Jessica Calderon. I am a
Cadet Captain in the firebird battalion at Phoenix Military
Academy. I am a junior with a 4.0 GPA, and I am ranked No. 7 in
my class.
I came here not by my free will, but by the choice of my
mother, who wanted nothing more than to provide the best life
for her two daughters and pursue the American dream. It was
quite a treacherous journey for my mom, who had to be separated
from her two beloved daughters in order to have a safe journey
coming to America.
I came here by plane, so I did not have to go through the
dangerous process most immigrants had to endure to come to
America. I finally arrived here when I was 3-years-old. While
still maintaining my Mexican heritage, I became an American at
heart. I was raised in America, and really consider myself to
be a citizen even though some numbers and papers do not say so.
I do not let my status determine what I want to accomplish
in life, but I never fail to realize that my opportunities are
limited. I hope that in the future, if I have the privilege to
become a citizen that I can pursue what I have been dreaming of
ever since I stepped foot into high school.
Before I even start mentioning what I want to accomplish in
life, I want to say that I am grateful for every opportunity
that America has given me, and I take advantage of everything
that comes my way. America is built upon the efforts of people
that work to make the country better, and I abide by the laws
that America sets forth. I believe the characteristics I hold,
the things I do at school, and the grades I have earned, make
me a good candidate to be a citizen.
The only thing that holds me back from accomplishing my
goals is my status as an undocumented immigrant in this
country. I still dream, and if I am granted an opportunity to
get my citizenship, I will never stop working as hard as I have
since the day I got here.
I hope to attend the United States Military Academy at West
Point, which has been my dream since I first stepped foot in
Phoenix. This Academy has truly molded me into the person I
never thought I would become, but I am glad that I did.
I dream of becoming the officer for the United States Army
through West Point if I am granted admittance into the academy.
If this plan fails, I plan to attend college regardless, and go
through the ROTC process so I can become an Army officer. When
I enter college, I plan to major in creative writing,
biomedical engineering, or international relations, and
hopefully to have a career in either one of those fields. If
this fails I will attend community college, and then transfer
into a 4-year university. No matter what happens, I want to
pursue a higher education when I get out of high school.
PREPARED STATEMENT
Senator, I hope you can persuade the House to pass
immigration reform, not only for myself, but for the rest of
the immigrants who cause no trouble to America, and want to
serve this country. If the House does not pass comprehensive
immigration reform, I hope that they can pass the DREAM Act so
that, at least, young immigrants can pursue a higher education
and serve this country.
I also hope that the Defense Department will authorize the
enlistment of DACA recipients so that DREAMers can serve in the
armed forces. This really needs to happen because it is the
only thing holding us back from our goals and accomplishing
them. We can really contribute to this Nation. I consider the
rest of the immigrants and myself to be an asset to this
country.
Thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Cadet Captain Jessica Calderon
Thank you Chairman Durbin for inviting me to testify today.
My name is Jessica Calderon; I am a Cadet Captain in the firebird
battalion at Phoenix Military Academy. I am a junior with a 4.0 GPA,
and am ranked seventh in my class. I came here not by my free will but
by the choice of my mother, who wanted nothing other than to provide
the best life for her two daughters and pursue the American dream. It
was quite a treacherous journey for my mom, who had to be separated
from her two beloved daughters in order to have a safe journey coming
to America. I came here by plane, so I didn't have to go through the
dangerous process most immigrants had to endure to come to America. I
finally arrived here when I was 3 years old. While still maintaining my
Mexican heritage, I became an American at heart. I was raised in
America, and really consider myself to be a citizen even though some
papers and numbers don't say so.
I don't let my status determine what I want to accomplish in life,
but I never fail to realize that my opportunities are limited. I hope
that in the future, if I have the luxury to become a citizen, I can
pursue what I have been dreaming of ever since I stepped foot in high
school. Before I even start mentioning what I want to accomplish in
life, I want to say that I am grateful for every opportunity that
America has given me, and I take advantage of everything that comes my
way. America is built upon the efforts of people that work to make the
country better, and I abide by the laws that America sets forth. I
believe that the characteristics I hold, the things I do at school, and
the grades I have earned, make me a good candidate to be a citizen. The
only thing that holds me back from accomplishing my goals is my status
as an undocumented immigrant in this country. I still dream, and if I'm
granted an opportunity to get my citizenship, I won't ever stop working
as hard as I have since the day I got here.
I hope to attend The United States Military Academy at West Point,
which has been my dream since I first stepped foot in Phoenix. This
school really molded me into the person I never thought I would become,
but I'm glad that I did. I dream of becoming an officer for the United
States Army through West Point if I'm granted admittance into the
academy. If this plan fails, I plan to attend college regardless and go
through the ROTC process so I can become an Army officer. When I enter
college, I plan to major in Creative Writing, Biomedical Engineering,
or International Relations and hopefully to have a career in one of
those fields. If this fails I will attend community college, and then
transfer into a 4-year university. No matter what happens, I want to
pursue a higher education when I graduate from high school.
Senator, I hope you can persuade the House to pass immigration
reform, not only for myself but for the rest of the immigrants who
cause no trouble to America and want to serve this country. If the
House doesn't pass comprehensive immigration reform, I hope that they
can pass the DREAM Act so that at least young immigrants can pursue
higher education and serve this country. I also hope that the Defense
Department will authorize the enlistment of DACA recipients so that
Dreamers can serve in the Armed Forces. This really needs to happen
because it is the only thing keeping us from our goals and
accomplishing them; we can really contribute to this Nation. I consider
the rest of the immigrants and myself to be an asset to this country.
Senator Durbin. Thank you very much, Cadet Captain
Calderon.
Before asking a few questions to this panel, I would like
to acknowledge several other people who are here and tell you
briefly their stories.
Cadet Captain Tania Brito, would you please stand?
Cadet Captain Brito is Company Commander at Phoenix
Military Academy. Her parents brought her to Chicago from
Mexico when she was 3-years-old.
Cadet Captain Brito recently won the Best in Mathematics
Award at the Illinois State Science Fair. She holds a GPA of
4.4 and dreams of enlisting in the Illinois Army National
Guard. We would be lucky to have you.
Thank you very much.
Cadet Captain Abigail Nava, would you please stand?
Cadet Captain Nava is a Plans and Operations Officer S3 at
Phoenix Military Academy, senior with a 3.8 GPA, was brought to
the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 10, and dreams of attending
West Point.
Cadet Captain Samantha Ortega, would you please stand?
She is Phoenix Military Academy's Battalion Logistics
Officer S4. She is a senior with a 4.1 GPA, brought to Chicago
from Mexico at the age of 1. Her dream is to become a Marine.
Alejandro Morales, please stand.
He was referred to earlier, brought to the United States
from Mexico at the age of 7 months. He graduated from the
Marine Math and Science Academy, where he rose to become the
City Corps Staff Commander, the highest ranking cadet of the
11,000 Junior ROTC cadets at Chicago public schools. His dream
is to become a Marine.
In a letter to me he wrote, and I quote, ``I want to serve
and fight to protect my country. I am an American. I know
nothing but the United States.''
Last year while the Senate was debating our Comprehensive
Immigration Reform, I took Mr. Morales' story to the floor of
the senate so that my colleagues and everyone who followed that
important, historic debate could hear about him. I wanted
everyone to know who the people are, who are looking for this
opportunity to serve.
And I thank you for being here today.
Sergeant Vazquez, it was not that many years ago you might
have been sitting in one of these chairs in Arizona as a member
of the Junior ROTC. And I'm listening to your amazing life
journey that brought you to Phoenix Military Academy for this
hearing today.
What would you say to the many people that we have
introduced, and many others who are sitting here, the same
position you were that many years ago?
Sergeant Vazquez. Senator, I would tell them to continue to
prepare themselves mentally, physically, and academically for
when that opportunity comes that they are ready and competitive
for any of the changes that might come in the future. And that
would be my personal message for them, sir.
Senator Durbin. When you were in the active military and
deployed, was there ever a time when you felt that you were not
treated as an equal to the men and women you were serving with?
Sergeant Vazquez. Sir, personally, when I was deployed, I
never had any issues. Every member of my platoon and I were
just fighting for one common goal, and I never felt I was
treated differently, sir.
Senator Durbin. Let me ask you about your family situation.
When you went through this experience of going to Mexico, you
left behind your new wife and your new baby, and you talked
about how difficult it was to introduce yourself as a father to
your daughter, and now, you have a son.
It sounds to me like your wife should also get a special
reward or a special recognition for standing by her husband
throughout this journey as well.
Sergeant Vazquez. I definitely believe so, sir. I cannot
thank her enough. My beautiful wife has always been next to me
and she has given me the support that I have needed to come
this far. I definitely owe her a lot and it really shows why we
are still together almost 10 years later, sir.
Senator Durbin. I ask Mario Rodriguez and Jessica Calderon,
can you both explain why you decided that service in our
military was an important part of your future?
Cadet Sergeant Rodriguez. I will go first.
Well, first of all, we have come to a military academy to
prepare ourselves for 4 years. And when the notion of coming to
the U.S. is obviously to come and work, provide a better life
for our families, but as we go into the service, we think about
the holistic point of view of not just our family, not just our
community, not just our State. We look at the entire Nation. We
have prepared ourselves, again, not only to serve our families
and represent them, but again, our country.
We, like you mentioned before, the United States is pretty
much all we know even though we were born in Mexico or other
countries of Latin America, our countries would be a different
place for us to go.
Senator Durbin. Jessica.
Cadet Captain Calderon. Yes, and like he said, when I
decided a service would be best is just that what I have
learned through JROTC, the values that the Army sets forth.
Originally, I did not even want to come to Phoenix. I did
not even consider it a choice or any JROTC schools. My cousin
came here, so I decided, ``Why not?'' And ever since I stepped
foot into Phoenix, it changed me, and it did not change me for
the bad, it changed me for the better.
And I think as this is all I know, America is all I know. I
acknowledge my Mexican heritage, but I pledge allegiance, like
you mention to this Nation every day and I would not feel
comfortable defending any other Nation but America. And I feel
like I am like a good candidate and sometimes it gets back to
come to reality that I cannot do it, but I will never stop
working as hard as I can until one day that I get to serve this
Nation.
Senator Durbin. Thank you.
Colonel Kelley, many people may not realize what sacrifices
are made by these cadets to apply, and to come to school, and
to live under the standards, and codes, and discipline, and
rules that are part of our military academies.
Can you give us an insight into the type of young man or
woman who makes this decision to come to places like Phoenix
Military?
Colonel Kelley. Mr. Chairman, it takes a special person to
make that decision in the first place, that they are going to
take a step already beyond themselves to one of service. They
may not be taking a path toward enlistment right away, but they
know that they are going to be coming to an academy of
structure and discipline, and they want to be a part of that.
They also know that they are going to have to--for many of
them and you saw by the show of hands--do the sacrifice of the
multiple bus trips or train rides, sometimes commuting, getting
up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to be here on time to be
here. So there are sacrifices that they make.
They also have opportunity here and those opportunities are
in leadership development and growth, and learning the values
that Cadet Calderon was alluding to: values of service and
values of citizenship. And so, as they grow in those, I think
they make ideal candidates, then, to become better citizens in
our country.
Senator Durbin. The last question I have is for Mr. Chen,
and it is a lawyer question, but that is your capacity here
today as an immigration lawyer.
There have been a lot of conversations about what might
happen, what the Department of Defense might do. We have this
group of about 500,000 who have gone through the application
process for DACA. They have paid the fee. They have gone
through the background check. They have met all of the
standards in terms of their background and their education, and
now they are here in deferred status. They cannot be deported.
That is about to go through renewal.
The question is whether or not you believe that the
Administration could have the legal authority to say, ``Those
who go through the DACA process would be considered eligible to
be part of our military, that their enlistment could be vital
to our national interest.''
Do you think as the President initially decided that
potential DREAMers could be given this opportunity for deferred
action in DACA, could the Administration make a similar
decision that those DACA-eligible should be allowed to enlist?
Mr. Chen. Senator, I think the simple answer to that
question would be yes, from the analysis the AILA has done
legally.
And to give a little bit of an explanation for it; the
vital to the national interest language that is in the statute,
there is not any specific statutory definition for it. And
there is no legislative history, as I mentioned before,
confining the Department of Defense to a specific
interpretation. So essentially, the Department has broad
authority and discretion to interpret that language.
And what constitutes vital to the national interest in this
context? Essentially it is, as we have heard already from
testimony, not only on this panel but before, the military has
a great need at this time to be able to recruit the best
possible candidates, of which so many are here in the room
today. But the pool for that is not always as strong as it
could be, and there is always the goal of getting stronger
recruitment pool candidates.
As we discussed already here at this hearing, the DACA
recipient pool is the perfect pool for that purpose of all the
different characteristics: diversity, language, having already
gone through quite a bit of the screening.
So, yes, in simple terms, the Department of Defense would
have the authority to make that designation on a categorical
basis and say that those people who are DACA recipients as a
category would meet the vital to the national interest
designation.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. I am going to conclude this
hearing by observing a couple of things.
What did we learn today? What did we learn from the two
congressmen who came? What did we learn from the Secretary of
Defense who testified? What did we learn from this panel? And
what did we learn from the protestor who was at this meeting?
We learned something about America. We learned, first, that
we could have an open and public hearing. That we can sit and
speak to one another in a civilized way about an issue that is
so critical to so many who are gathered here today.
The ultimate decision that is made on this issue can change
so many lives of people in this room. And we are part of a
Government where people have a chance to come forward and to
state their views.
I thought the testimony here was amazing. I thought the
witnesses who came forward were incredible, right here, in
Chicago. Sergeant Vazquez, who came all the way from Alaska to
tell an amazing story which we should never, ever forget.
But let me say a word about the protestor who was here
today too. He was exercising his rights as an American citizen
to stand up and disagree or to call me out. That is part of
this country. He was not arrested, and taken away, and put in
jail. That is not what we do in America. We allow people to
state their points of view.
Now, I will return tomorrow to Washington where the debate
on this issue continues and many people disagree with my
position. But I believe, as the Congressman Gutieerrez said
earlier, a majority agrees. They agree that if you are willing
to signup in our military and risk your life for America, you
should be given the opportunity. It will make you a better
person. It will make us a better country, a stronger country.
So as we think about the military and what they are
fighting for, it is not just to win a battle. It is to protect
the values of who we are as a Democratic Nation. This hearing
is part of that American conversation. It may only be a small
footnote, but it is part of that American conversation that our
military, thank goodness, throughout our history has stood up
to defend.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
I want to thank the Phoenix Military Academy, thank all of
you who have come as part of this panel, and tell you that as
this American conversation continues, our testimony today will
be an important part of it.
This meeting of the subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:03 a.m., Monday, May 19, the subcommittee
was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]