The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a limited expansion of the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program to include certain undocumented applicants who are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The MAVNI program, established in 2008, permits the U.S. army to enlist certain noncitizen and non-permanent resident applicants. To qualify, applicants must have been admitted as asylees, refugees, in certain nonimmigrant status classifications or must have held temporary protected status (TPS) over the two years preceding their application. They must also not have left the U.S. for more than 90 days during the two year period. Finally, applicants must possess certain language abilities that are of interest to the U.S. military or have healthcare skills that are in shortage, commit to a minimum service term, and pass rigorous security screening. The MAVNI program is limited to up to 1,500 recruits per year.
The practical effect of this announced policy change is unclear at this point but it is unlikely it will be significant. DACA applicants who are willing to apply under the MAVNI program must meet all of the program requirements. Since Spanish is not on the list of languages of interest to the U.S. military, this will likely rule out the bulk of the DACA registrants who do not otherwise possess healthcare skills that the army finds in shortage. In addition, another major impediment that many DACA registrants may face is the military’s policy not to enlist people who have undocumented family members. Both the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security are reportedly looking for ways to get around this restriction by evaluating options to resolve any undocumented family member’s status prior to the enlistee entering active duty. However, nothing specific has been announced yet.