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.

Service in the armed forces has been a truncated path to citizenship for, at least, the last 45 years - perhaps longer. For those aliens who serve, the process-time is reduced and several of the requirements are waived.

"There is nothing new under the sun."

Below is a About.com article...

Check out the "To date, more than 18,000 service members have applied for expedited naturalization. USCIS has helped nearly 9,000 of those service members become citizens." near the end...

President Bush has signed a bill to expedite citizenship for foreign-born members of the military. Fees will also be waived for these candidates. Text of the press release from the USCIS:

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces may apply for citizenship under special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Generally, that includes service in one of the following brances of the U.S. military:

- Army - Navy - Marine Corps - Air Force - Coast Guard
- Certain Reserve components of the National Guard
- Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve

Recent changes in section 328 and 329 of the INA make it easier for qualified military personnel to become U.S. citizens. In addition, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has created a streamlined process specifically for military personnel serving on active-duty status or recently discharged. As of October 1, 2004, members of the U.S. Armed Forces do not pay a fee when filing for citizenship.

To date, more than 18,000 service members have applied for expedited naturalization. USCIS has helped nearly 9,000 of those service members become citizens.

Qualifications
A military service member must meet certain requirements and qualifications to become a U.S. citizen. These include:

- Demonstrating good moral character;
- Demonstrating knowledge of the English language;
- Demonstrating knowledge of U.S. government history (civics); and
- Demonstrating attachment to the U.S. by taking an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

Military service members are exempt from other naturalization requirements outlined in the INA as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004.

It's a controversial issue, read about both sidesText of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004

The Roman Empire tried this when they ran short of willing recruits nearing the end of the western empire.

It didn't work.

On a small scale, with individual recruits intermixed with Romans and provincials it worked fine. They Romanized well and served faithfully.

However, once they tried it in large numbers, bringing in whole tribes under their native leadership, it failed since they had more loyalty to their own kin and had contempt for the people they fought for who demonstrated, by the large scale hiring of barbarians, were too weak and timid to defend themselves.

At the end, the "Roman" army had no Romans or Italians in it and very few provincials, being almost totally barbarian manned and even lead.

Imagine 90% of the Army today being made up of 1st generation Mexican immigrants who speak little or no english lead by Mexican college grads.

It's a path we don't want to take.

It allready began just sit back and relax before you hurt your self. It has been going on for years do the research

Great ! Wonderful ! Couldn't be better !

Let's totally copy the Roman, British and various other European Imperial models and offer legal participation in The Empire in exchange for being a hired gun.

I can't wait for thousands of little Aztecs and Mayans,well armed and combat trained well beyond their gangbanger skills, to come back to their new home ready,willing and able to be turned against a dissident populace unwilling to die for oil profits or surrender their small arms. How does the term "Posse Comitatus" translate into New World Spanish. Do you think, for a moment, that The Rulers y Los Soldados Provisionales may give a flying rat's ass how it translates or what it means or stands for?

For all you believing this will be the end of Western civilization as we know it:

So 90% of the Roman army was barbarian? The law allows a token proportion of present immigrants or prospective immigrants to join for citizenship. I don't think it can solve the mess that it US immigration law and enforcement, but I do think it should be publicized more as a way to show that immigrants can be patriotic too - countering demonization. It obviously does some good in shoring up troop shortages, but I have a hard time believing it will lead to 90% foreign born non-citizen troops in the armed forces.

Anyways, wouldn't you rather have people looking for the American dream filling this void? I mean, even if it "exploits foreigners by incorporating them into U.S. imperial wars", at least it would be a more virtuous arrangement than using Blackwater and other mercenaries to fill the void.

Thanks for the info. It's assuring to know that great minds think alike (me and W.)