Should the armed forces be free to enlist foreign-born recruits who are not already U.S. citizens or permanent residents? I’ve argued so on multiple occasions (see here, here, and here) because I think this would be a terrific way to expand the pool of high-quality, eligible soldiers and provide a new path toward citizenship for many aspiring Americans, while also expanding the foreign-area expertise of our armed forces.
Ruben Navarrette, Jr., a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board, disagrees. He has written a column, posted on CNN’s website, which argues against “turning illegal immigrants into cannon fodder.” To make his case, he cites Jose Carranza, an illegal immigrant from Peru who has been accused of crimes ranging from child rape to murder. “If half the things they say about this creep are true,” Navarrette writes, “Carranza belongs on death row. But guess what? He sure doesn’t belong on an Army recruitment poster, or handling heavy artillery.”
I was thinking of replying to this specious argument when I received an email from Margaret Stock, a military reservist and attorney who is an associate professor at West Point, pointing out the flaws with Navarrette’s logic better than I could. She agreed to let me share her letter with contentions readers:
