American military recruiters are offering immigrants citizenship in return for enlisting, as a strategy to address the ongoing shortage of new military personnel.
According to The New York Post, both the Army and Air Force are stepping up their recruitment efforts toward immigrants in order to address their recruiting crisis.
One of the methods the US military is offering immigrants is a much faster way to citizenship.
Because of the overwhelming number of naturalization cases in the United States, the process of obtaining citizenship can span several years for certain legal permanent residents. Nevertheless, the US military aims to expedite this timeline specifically for immigrants who serve in the US military.
As reported by The New York Post:
Struggling to overcome recruiting shortfalls, the Army and the Air Force have bolstered their marketing to entice immigrants to enlist, putting out pamphlets, working social media and broadening their outreach, particularly in inner cities.
One key element is the use of recruiters with similar backgrounds to these potential recruits. “It is one thing to hear about the military from locals here, but it is something else when it’s from your fellow brother, from the country you’re from,” said Esmita Spudes Bidari, who was contacted by Army Staff Sgt. Kalden Lama, the Dallas recruiter, on a Facebook group that helps Nepalese people in America connect with one another.
“That brother was in the group and he was recruiting and he told me about the military.”
My Kenyan son-in-law was well on the road to citizenship when he joined the Navy. The Navy helped scoot him thru the process. Some of his assignment choices were limited, being foreign born. Like no work on armament or guidance systems.
According to the USCIS citizenship can be obtained “if you served honorably in the U.S. armed forces for at least one year at any time, you may be eligible to apply for naturalization. While some general naturalization requirements apply under INA 328, other requirements may not apply or are reduced.”
The US military is also offering citizenship to dependents of the immigrants who enlist.
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