Military to allow undocumented immigrants to serve

*This initiative is seen as a path to citizenship for DREAMers. The ideas is that these young men and women, given a wide set of options, will chose the one that’s best for them. VL

By Andrew Tilghman, Military Times/USA Today

A small number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will have an opportunity to join the military for the first time in decades under a new Department of Defense policy unveiled Thursday.

The new rules will expand an existing program allowing recruiters to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training.

For the first time, the program — known as Military Accessions in the National Interest, or MAVNI — will be open to immigrants without a proper visa if they came to the U.S. with their parents before age 16. More specifically, they must be approved under a 2012 Obama administration policy known as Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, or DACA.

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