“A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the enlistment of certain aliens in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section adds to the list of persons eligible for enlistment in the armed forces, without requiring a Secretary-authorized exception, a person who 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 (i.e., temporary deportation relief and work authorization for certain undocumented individuals brought to the U.S. as children). (Thus, such DACA recipients join U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, and certain Compact of Free Association residents as routinely eligible enlistees, bypassing the current limit of 1,000 exceptions per military department per calendar year.) It also makes conforming changes to the section heading and table of sections for 10 U.S.C. §504.
This section strikes INA §328, which authorized naturalization for noncitizens with at least three years of honorable service in active duty or the Selected Reserve during peacetime. It revises INA §329 to authorize naturalization through honorable service in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve or active-duty status (as defined in 10 U.S.C. §101(d)), regardless of any designated period of hostility (previously required under former §329); expands eligibility to include nationals of freely associated States (as defined in 20 U.S.C. §1411(b)(1)(C)); updates gender-neutral language; and makes conforming changes to the statutory table of contents. (Thus, peacetime and wartime military naturalization pathways are consolidated under a single provision.)