Sponsors (3)
The bill expands military recruitment and naturalization access for certain noncitizen servicemembers — increasing opportunity and clarifying eligibility — while imposing administrative burdens, creating transitional legal uncertainty for some applicants, and risking political controversy.
DACA recipients who hold valid USCIS employment authorization can enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, expanding the pool of eligible recruits and potentially helping meet recruitment goals.
Individuals who enlist under the expanded eligibility (including qualifying DACA holders) gain access to military pay, training, and benefits available to enlistees.
Servicemembers who served in the freely associated States can qualify for naturalization under the 'at the time of enlistment...in the United States' requirement, and replacing gendered pronouns with gender‑neutral language clarifies equal eligibility for all genders.
DoD and DHS/USCIS will face additional administrative and vetting work (verifying DACA EADs, processing broader eligibility and higher application volume), which could slow enlistment and naturalization processing and strain resources if not funded.
Deleting 8 U.S.C. 1439 and changing cross‑references and wording may create transitional uncertainty or unintentionally exclude some past service records, potentially denying naturalization to applicants who relied on the prior statutory language.
Expanding enlistment eligibility to DACA recipients may prompt political controversy among some Americans who view it as changing immigration standards for military service.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows DACA EAD holders to enlist in the U.S. military and revises military-naturalization law to include service in Freely Associated States while removing a prior provision.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress July 29, 2025
Allows people who hold a USCIS Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) employment authorization document to enlist in the U.S. armed forces and changes the statutory rules for naturalization based on military service. It removes one existing naturalization provision from the immigration code, updates another to broaden the locations whose service can qualify (adding service in the Freely Associated States), and makes several wording and cross‑reference edits. The bill does not create new funding, agencies, or deadlines.