US Army Lures Legal Migrants to Enlist for Quick Citizenship Amid Recruiting Shortfalls

US military service leaders earlier warned that the army, the navy and the air force are braced to miss their recruiting goals by thousands of rookies this year, just as they did in 2022.

With the US Army and Navy currently facing a severe recruitment shortfall, American military recruiters reportedly continue to target legal migrants to fill their ranks in exchange for offering them a quick path to citizenship.

A US media outlet reported that in a bid to tackle recruiting shortfalls, the country’s army, navy and the air force have boosted their marketing to lure legal immigrants into enlisting. The military is “putting out pamphlets, working social media and broadening their outreach, particularly in inner cities,” according to the outlet.

One key element reportedly includes the use of recruiters with similar backgrounds to the potential migrant recruits.

Airman 1st Class Joshua Fancisco, from the Philippines, left, Airman 1st Class D'elbrah Assamoi, from Cote D'Ivoire, center, and Airman 1st Class Jordan Flash, from Jamaica, looks at their U.S. Certificate of Citizenship after signing it following the Basic Military Training Coin Ceremony on April 26, 2023, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas

© AFP 2023 / Christa D'Andrea

In this regard, the outlet referred to Esmita Spudes Bidari, a young girl from Nepal who recently took the oath to join the US Army Reserves, thanks in part to a recruiter in Dallas who also is Nepalese and who reached out to her through an online group on a social networking website.

“It is one thing to hear about the military from locals here, but it is something else when it's from your fellow brother, from the country you're from. That brother was in the group and he was recruiting and he told me about the military," Bidari told the outlet.

The news network pointed out that “Pulling more from the legal immigrant population may not provide large numbers, but any small boosts will help” when it comes to the US Army and the USAF’s thus-far-unsuccessful push for meeting their recruiting goals this year.

As far as the USAF is concerned, the first group of 14 people who graduated from basic training, were reportedly sworn in as new US citizens in April. They ostensibly included recruits from Cameroon, Jamaica, Kenya, the Philippines, and South Africa. As of mid-May, there were about 100 legal migrants in basic training who had started dealing with the citizenship process and about 40 who had already completed it, according to reports.

This comes after US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told lawmakers at a congressional hearing earlier this month that the American military does not expect to reach its ambitious recruiting goal of 65,000 new soldiers by the end of the year, as the pool of young Americans eligible to serve continues to shrink.

"We are not going to make that goal. We are doing everything we can to get as close to it as possible; we are going to fall short," she admitted.

The past several years have seen an ever-increasing percentage of Americans in prime recruiting age be deemed unqualified for service. According to army planners, only about 23% of 17-24-year-olds can meet the service's expectations, with many applicants failing the military's SAT-style entrance exam or being too overweight to serve. The SAT is a college entrance exam that many colleges and universities in the US use as part of the admission process.

The developments with enlisting legal migrants unfold as the US migration crisis persists, with scores of illegal entries along the US-Mexico border showing no sign of abating.