As Trump continues to push his plan for mass deportation on the campaign trail, he has also been providing details on how he plans to pull it off, starting out by making use of the National Guard and possibly the military, triggering warnings from everyone from Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to his own former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
A study by Armed Forces & Society, however, has revealed interesting insights into the relationship between the armed forces and that same demographic which Trump is going after, as immigrants expressed a nearly 30% higher willingness to join the military and "fight for the country" than native-born citizens.
The study, conducted by scholars from institutions including the University of Utah and Washington State University, analyzed surveys from Americans and Canadians over multiple years on topics such as national pride, self-identity, and public service. The study suggests that, immigrant youth will become increasingly important in maintaining force levels. As the authors explain:
"Recruitment shortfalls plaguing prominent Western militaries employing the all-volunteer force model raise concerns about the maintenance of force size and readiness. Faced with aging populations, many developed nations will increasingly rely on immigrant youth to address recruitment shortfalls"
The study also highlights that immigrants tend to be more civic-minded and oriented toward public service than native-born populations, challenging common political narratives. In fact, researchers suggest that immigrants' willingness to defend their host countries stems more from a desire to integrate and contribute to society than from militaristic or nationalist motivations.
While documented immigrants have historically used military service as a pathway to citizenship, the ongoing national immigration debate has focused largely on undocumented immigrants, who are generally barred from military enlistment. Their path to legal status averages about two years, a process that lengthened under the Trump administration.
Back in 2017, Trump's Secretary of Defense James Mattis instituted a policy which forces lawful permanent residents to pass new, undefined, and vague background investigations and requirements before even shipping out to basic military training. However, a federal court in San Francisco blocked the policy in late 2018, arguing that the Trump administration provided no rational justification for the policy. "If there was no evidence that Lawful Permanent Residents posed a greater security risk, this policy change is by definition arbitrary and capricious," U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar wrote.
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