GOTCHA! How we get our military people...or ...slaves?

Foes say some grads may be forced to join
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 26, 2007

Legislation that could grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented high school graduates is creating a schism among Latino educators and others who have typically favored legalization efforts.

At issue is a component of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, a bill that could be voted on in the Senate by next week as an amendment to a Department of Defense authorization bill.

Union-Tribune reporter Leslie Berestein talks about the DREAM Act.

The proposed legislation, a version of which was first introduced in 2001, would make high school graduates who arrived in the United States illegally at 15 or younger and who have lived here at least five years, eligible for conditional legal status provided they attend two years of college or serve two years in the military. After six years, those who meet the conditions could obtain legal permanent resident status.

It is the military service component that has landed some Latino supporters of legalization measures on the same side of the proposal as the immigration restriction lobby, which decries the DREAM Act as amnesty.

Those uncomfortable with the military component see the measure as a devil's bargain: On one hand, it offers a shot at higher education and success to young people who might otherwise have to spend their lives in the shadows. On the other, they fear that those who can't afford college, or don't see it as a viable choice, might feel compelled to join the military not because they want to, but because they fear eventual deportation.

“This is very tricky, because undocumented students are desperate for some kind of legalization,” said Jorge Mariscal, director of the University of California San Diego's Chicano Studies program and a longtime critic of military recruiting within minority communities. “I'm completely conflicted.”

The DREAM Act has the support of mainstream Latino organizations, such as the National Council of La Raza and the League of United Latin American Citizens, who praise it as a life-changing opportunity for students.

It has also been promoted by other supporters, including sponsor Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as a way to boost military recruiting at a time when the protracted Iraq war demands it. In a telephone news conference Monday, U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Margaret Stock called the measure “germane to the Department of Defense.”

“This is a way to maintain an all-volunteer force, and keep that force supplied with very high-quality people,” said Stock, an associate professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The U.S. Army fell short of its recruitment goals in June and July, said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman, although he said goals were met in August. In fiscal year 2006, 12.6 percent of active Army recruits nationwide were Latino.

In San Diego, the nation's second-largest hub of military operations, there has been opposition to the bill from those who say that children of low-income immigrants already have a propensity to enlist in the military in exchange for the promise of a college education their parents can't afford, or because they simply can't envision college as an option.


College is an enlistment carrot for young U.S. citizens and legal residents, said Rick Jahnkow, coordinator of the Encinitas-based Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities, which promotes alternatives to enlistment for those seeking education and job training. Legal immigrants were given added incentive to enlist in 2002, when President Bush signed an executive order expediting U.S. citizenship for foreign-born active-duty military personnel.

Supporters of the DREAM Act say high school graduates who stand to benefit have a choice between college or the military. But with the only other option to remain undocumented, Jahnkow said, some who can't see going the college route might be motivated to enlist not so much by what they might gain, but by fear of what they stand to lose.

“You might be deported if you don't make a move to take advantage of this,” he said. “It's more of an incentive than the general economic one. It's the threat of possibly being deported, on top of that, which is going to result in a much higher enlistment rate . . . I think some will want to join the military, but I think more will essentially be coerced into it.”

In San Diego and Los Angeles, a group of politically involved teachers known as the Association of Raza Educators has come out against the proposal, citing the same concerns.

“There is the carrot, and there is also the stick behind it,” said Miguel Zavala, a part-time teaching instructor at Cal State Los Angeles. “They have their hands tied behind their backs. It's not like they can just choose.”

The military has served as a stick to other generations, but in much different contexts. During the Vietnam War, for example, the draft persuaded many young men to remain in college and retain a draft deferment.

Judges have also tried to coerce enlistment as an alternative to jail: Last year, a New York judge gave this choice to a 20-year-old man whom the Army ultimately rejected, citing regulations that prevent people with pending charges from enlisting.

In spite of its military component, Latino educators who support the DREAM Act believe that the pros of the measure far outweigh the cons.

“The DREAM Act would open so many doors for so many deserving students who do not have proper documentation,” said Carmen Garcia, principal of Roosevelt Middle School near Balboa Park. “It is a seed of hope that so many students have been waiting for, that so many parents have been waiting for.”

The military component is “an added nuance,” Garcia said, “but it opens the door to other possibilities.”

The Migration Policy Institute has estimated that 360,000 undocumented high school graduates would immediately be eligible for conditional legal status under the measure, and that about 50,000 of them are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.

Under the DREAM Act, college-bound students who receive conditional legal status could take advantage of federal student loans – though not grants – now unavailable to illegal immigrants. However, a provision that would have granted them in-state tuition fees was removed from the proposal.

Ten states, including California, allow in-state tuition for undocumented students, meaning that those opting for college in most states could still face financial hurdles.

Leslie Berestein: (619) 542-4579; leslie.berestein@uniontrib.com