The U.S. military, stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, may consider recruiting undocumented immigrants by offering them citizenship in return for becoming part of the war machine. The suggestion comes from Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow on foreign policy at the Brookings Institute, and others at the influential Washington, D.C., think tanks that have been studying strategies to increase recruitment.
The military currently does not recruit undocumented immigrants. As of Feb. 20, 326 immigrants were in active duty in all branches of the armed services, and another 13,151 were in the Reserves. Latino soldiers were among the first to be killed in the invasion of Iraq.
Taking advantage of the undocumented status of working class youth would amount to an expansion of the economic draft, in which the military targets poor people who have few options to make a living.
