Sponsors (3)
Allows DACA EAD holders to enlist and revises or removes statutory naturalization-by-service provisions, adding Freely Associated States and changing standards for honorable service determinations.
The bill opens military service and some clearer naturalization paths to certain noncitizen groups—boosting recruitment and offering benefits to enlistees—while removing an existing fast-track naturalization route and introducing administrative ambiguity and immigration-status risks that could complicate retention and adjudications.
DACA recipients with valid Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) would be allowed to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, expanding the pool of potential recruits and helping military recruitment and readiness.
Eligible DACA EAD holders who enlist would gain access to military pay, training, and benefits, providing economic and career opportunities to those individuals.
People from Freely Associated States and residents of American Samoa/Swain's Island get explicit eligibility pathways for naturalization under §1440, clearing a legal path to citizenship for those groups.
DACA-based recruits would still have immigration status tied to a policy that can change, leaving enlistees at risk of future immigration uncertainty that could harm retention and complicate security clearances.
Removing §328 eliminates a separate one-year aggregate-service naturalization pathway, potentially reducing or complicating naturalization options for some service members and veterans.
Narrowing statutory language and shifting key honorable-service and separation determinations to executive departments could create ambiguity, reduce predictability, narrow eligibility for some operations, and lead to inconsistent agency decisions and delays.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the enlistment of certain aliens in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 10, 2025 by Salud Carbajal · Last progress July 10, 2025
Adds Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Employment Authorization Document holders to the categories of noncitizens eligible to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces and updates naturalization-by-service provisions for certain noncitizen service members, including applicants from the Freely Associated States. It also removes an existing statutory section and revises language about honorable service and separation determinations and related geographic language. The bill mainly changes enlistment and naturalization rules: it amends Title 10 to permit DACA EAD holders to enlist, deletes one section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and revises another to broaden geographic coverage and adjust how executive departments determine honorable service and separations for immigration purposes.