In Wednesday’s Rules Committee meeting, Congressman Mo Brooks urged the members to remove the illegal alien/DACA language from the National Defense Authorization (NDAA). Freshman Congressman Dave Brat has also spoken against the military amnesty scheme and commented during the hearing. (See Brats article in the Daily Signal, Defense Funding Bill Shouldn’t Allow Illegal Immigrants to Enlist in the Military.)

BROOKS: From 2010 to 2014, 92,498 American citizens and lawful immigrants either were laid off from military service or their military service positions were RIFed. In 2015 the Department of Defense estimates it will eliminate another 27,807 uniformed personnel positions. By the end of 2019 over the next four years the department estimates it will eliminate another 37,680 uniform personnel positions. In total then between 2010 and 2019 the Department of Defense it either has or will eliminate 157,985 uniform personnel positions, thereby costing American citizens and lawful immigrants a total 157,985 lost military service opportunities.

What is the result? American men and women serving in uniform and in combat in Afghanistan and elsewhere have literally been handed pink slips while they are fighting for their country.

There is no labor shortage that justifies supplanting Americans and legal immigrants with illegal aliens in order to meet military recruitment and retention requirements. . .

BRAT: This issue keeps rearing its head without going through regular order. . . One of the reasons it finds its way into the midnight sessions is because some folks know it can’t pass the test. . . I’ve heard no one make the case that this is good for the military.

It is pretty amazing that the military has been hit with extreme cuts to personnel but now the Republican-run House Armed Services Committee has voted in favor of putting illegal aliens in the front of the line to serve. Laura Ingraham said her listeners were “livid” about the scheme when she talked with Rep. Huelskamp on Thursday — Listen.

Ingraham brought up the security angle because the backgrounds of the illegals cannot be determined. What’s to keep Mexican cartel gangsters from joining up and learning America’s effective military techniques? There have been reports of foreign gangsters in the US military for years, so this is not idle paranoia.

Check out the 2008 news report below that shows the criminal effectiveness of a military-trained Norteno gangster in Stanislaus County California, as well as other examples of criminals who joined up to learn skills and tactics.

Congressmen Brooks sent around a group letter pointing out that the policy is highly inadvisable:

BROOKS LEADS LETTER TO RULES CHAIRMAN URGING COMMITTEE TO REMOVE DACA LANGUAGE FROM NDAA, May 8, 2015

Washington, D.C. – On May 5, 2015, 25 Republicans, led by Congressman Mo Brooks, sent a letter to House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions urging the Committee to strip a controversial DACA provision from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Last week, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) passed the FY 2016 NDAA after open-borders and amnesty proponents added, on a 33-30 vote, Congressman Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ) amendment, which supports President Obamas unconstitutional executive amnesty decree for illegal immigrants by encouraging the Secretary of Defense to hire illegal immigrants rather than Americans for U.S. Armed Forces positions, thus advancing Dreamer amnesty that Congress has repeatedly rejected. Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL) strongly opposed this amendment.

According to the letter, “This controversial immigration language greatly increases the risk of the NDAA’s failure to pass the House. The Rules Committee has the power, and indeed the duty, to prevent such a threat to our national security.” If the Rules Committee does not strike Rep. Gallego’s controversial DACA provision, Congressman Brooks and others will offer an amendment on the House floor to remove this language when the NDAA comes up for a vote next week.
Text of the Letter:
During the House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) offered an amendment that encourages the Secretary of Defense to declare that illegal aliens granted deferred action and work permits under the unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program are vital to Americas national interest. This would have the effect of making them eligible to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces even though they are in the country unlawfully and our military is in the process of downsizing troop levels. The amendment passed on a 33–30 vote.

The House of Representatives has voted to defund DACA three times: June 2013, August 2014, and in this Congress in January 2015. The language contained in Rep. Gallego’s amendment contradicts the House’s previous position and is a severe threat to the passage of the NDAA—legislation which funds the essential programs that America’s military requires. Especially in this time of increased terrorism, our national security should not be threatened by allowing such controversial language on a program we have rejected three times as unconstitutional.

If the Rules Committee does not strike Rep. Gallego’s controversial DACA provision (§ 538), we will offer an amendment to strike the language. This controversial immigration language greatly increases the risk of the NDAA’s failure to pass the House. The Rules Committee has the power, and indeed the duty, to prevent such a threat to our national security. Therefore, we urge you to strip § 538 from the NDAA.