Bill Offers U.S. Citizenship for Military Service
Illegal-Immigrant Act Offering U.S. Citizenship May Fill Military Void
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By MIRIAM JORDAN

Backers of legislation that could help hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants become citizens are trying to overcome political opposition by emphasizing the bill’s potential to help the U.S. military meet war-time personnel needs.

The military has seemed receptive, but some Hispanic groups have expressed concern that the bill is a ploy to pull young Latin Americans into combat situations for which they wouldn’t otherwise have volunteered.

Months after the collapse of a broad immigration overhaul, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D. Ill.) plans to offer by next week a smaller measure that could give 360,000 illegal immigrants with high-school degrees a path to citizenship. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the Dream Act, is known for seeking to do that through education, by giving undocumented immigrants a temporary window to complete two years of college — after which they would qualify for legal status.

The proposal has a lesser-known component that would offer the same opportunity to undocumented immigrants with a high-school education who enroll in the military. Military experts say the Dream Act would significantly increase the pool of qualified recruits in the Hispanic population, which comprises the majority of illegal immigrants and which surveys indicate has a higher propensity to enlist than any other group. Although it is believed that some illegal immigrants serve in the armed forces, they aren’t officially allowed to enlist.



“It would be tremendously beneficial to the military,â€