I wonder if this idea is politically tenable? Or if would be effective in replenishing the army before the next president (probably) starts to draw down troops. But how about offering enlistment in the armed forces as a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States who want to take up the offer. Of course, they would get all the benefits that soldiers who are citizens get when they sign up for the armed forces (but it still probably has an air of exploitation?). Anyways, anyone who signs up and gets disqualified for say, physical reasons, could still qualify for a temporary residence visa. There could be a one-week moratorium (or maybe longer?) on deportations and a promise that people who come to sign up and don't qualify will have all their information purged afterwards. The government could set a limit on how many people they wanted to recruit and offer citizenship/visas to immigrants and simply turn people away, no questions asked, no information gathered after that point. It seems like a reasonable way out of the armed forces crisis, and a way to get the conversation started on immigration again, while doing something to combat the villification of immigrants even if it wouldn't be a solution for every immigrant. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons this wouldn't work, but I'm at least curious to hear what they are.