Military Amnesty’s Next Stop: House Floor
Thanks to your hard work, we successfully kept an amnesty from being attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as it was amended in the House Armed Services Committee yesterday.
As you know, California Republican Jeff Denham had been furiously lobbying to have his “ENLIST Act,” H.R. 2377, amnesty added to the annual defense spending bill during yesterday’s Armed Services Committee hearing. If adopted, his bill would allow certain illegal aliens to not only join the U.S. military, but would require the Department of Homeland Security to grant them green cards and make them immediately eligible for citizenship upon enlistment.
However, Rep. Denham and the amnesty lobby lost to true immigration reform when late last night the top Democrat on the committee offered and withdrew an amendment based on the ENLIST Act because he knew they did not have the support to attach it.
Though true immigration reformers won a huge victory, the fight is not yet over. Rep. Denham has vowed to get his legislation passed one way or another! He is expected to offer his amnesty bill as an amendment to the NDAA when it comes to the House floor for a vote later this month. Worse yet, he recently told reporters he wants his legislation to be voted on as a standalone bill — as opposed to an amendment to another bill — in May or early June.
With so many opportunities for Rep. Denham to slip his amnesty past the American people, we need your help now! Tell your House Representative to oppose H.R. 2377 — and any similar efforts to grant amnesty to illegal aliens in exchange for joining the military — TODAY!
Click here to find the contact information for your Member of Congress.
Call your Congressman and tell him or her that the ENLIST Act:
- Is amnesty. It not only requires DHS to give illegal aliens a green card upon enlistment, but because of current law, makes them immediately eligible for citizenship.
- Will do nothing to solve our nation’s illegal immigration problem. To the contrary, it will only make it worse by sending the signal that all one has to do is make it into the country and he/she will eventually be rewarded with legal status.
- Jeopardizes our national security and public safety by allowing those without valid identification and documentation to enlist in our Armed Services.
- Is unnecessary. There is no shortage of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents willing to serve in the military. Each branch of the Armed Services has reached or exceeded 100% of their enlistment targets for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Moreover, the Pentagon currently plans to shrink the Armed Forces over the next three years to pre-WWII levels. Consequently, passing the ENLIST Act would have the effect of denying Americans who want to serve the opportunity to do so.
Want more information about H.R. 2377? View FAIR’s Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the ENLIST Act.