H.R. 4316 — Fight for the American Dream Act

This section adds to the list of persons eligible for enlistment in the armed forces any person who, at the time of enlistment, possesses an employment authorization document issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. (Thus, such persons qualify without needing a secretarial determination of critical skills vital to the national interest or counting toward the 1,000-enlistment annual limit per military department, which requires congressional notification to exceed.) It also makes clerical amendments to the heading of 10 U.S.C. §504 and the table of sections for chapter 31 of title 10, U.S.C.

This section repeals INA §328, which authorizes expedited naturalization for lawful permanent residents (LPRs) with at least one year of honorable active-duty service in the U.S. armed forces during peacetime. It revises INA §329—previously limited to honorable service during designated periods of hostilities (e.g., post-9/11)—to authorize expedited naturalization through honorable service in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, active status (as defined in 10 U.S.C. §101(d)), or active duty; expands eligibility to LPRs residing in American Samoa, Swains Island, or freely associated states (as defined in 20 U.S.C. §1411(b)(1)(C)); makes gender-neutral changes; and updates the section heading and table of contents accordingly. (Thus, peacetime active-duty personnel previously covered only under §328 must now qualify under the revised §329.)