# Fight for the American Dream Act: Plain Language Summary

This bill would allow certain young immigrants brought to the United States as children to serve in the military. Specifically, it opens up military enlistment to people who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status—a program that protects immigrants who arrived as kids from being deported and allows them to work legally in the country. Right now, these individuals are generally not allowed to join the Armed Forces, even though many have grown up here and consider themselves American.

The bill creates a pathway to permanent residency for DACA recipients who enlist and serve honorably. Once someone with DACA status completes their military service with an honorable discharge, they would automatically become a lawful permanent resident (green card holder). This is significant because it gives these young people a clear route to legal status through military service. However, there's an important catch: if someone receives a dishonorable or other non-honorable discharge before finishing their required service time, the government can take away their permanent resident status. The bill also clarifies that this process doesn't replace the existing pathway where military members can apply for citizenship after serving a certain amount of time.

In practical terms, this affects hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients who have grown up in America and want to serve their country. For them, it removes a barrier that currently prevents military service and offers a concrete way to achieve permanent legal status. For the military, it expands the pool of potential recruits from a group of people who are already living and working in the United States. The bill essentially says: if you've been protected under DACA and want to serve in the Armed Forces, you can now do so, and that service will lead to permanent residency.

Fight for the American Dream Act

Gallego, Ruben

Fight for the American Dream Act This bill authorizes individuals to enlist in the Armed Forces if that individual has employment authorization under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (The program, often referred to as DACA, allows certain individuals without lawful immigration status and who arrived in the United States as children to temporarily remain in the United States, subject to various requirements and limitations.) An individual who has enlisted in the Armed Forces under this bill shall receive lawful permanent resident status, if the individual is otherwise eligible for such status. The bill waives certain grounds of inadmissibility related to unlawful entry for such individuals. If such an individual receives a discharge from the Armed Forces that is not an honorable discharge before completing a period of obligated service, the Department of Homeland Security must rescind that individual's lawful permanent resident status.