At least they aren't plotting a coup Part II (yet)
by digby
Well, it looks like this is becoming a trend. Here's the notorious Allen West:
Morning folks. While you were sleeping, Barack Hussein Obama took out his pen and ordered our Military to enlist illegal aliens. In other words, this charlatan has allowed those who have disrespected our Constitution and are not citizens to take an oath to support and defend the very document, our rule of law, of which they are in violation. Obama has no constitutional authority to make any laws or rules concerning naturalization as stated in Art I Sect 8 Clause 4. This is an illegal order and should not be followed by our Military. As well, we are pink-slipping men and women in uniform, Americans, and Obama wants to enlist illegals. We are already outsourcing our national security to Syrian Islamists. This is intolerable and just another reason why we must flip the Senate and begin to reverse Obama's tyranny. Any Democrat supporting this illegal order needs to be voted out!
This tracks with Armed Services Committee member congressman Brian Lamborn suggesting that he and others are conferring with Generals about resigning en masse in protest of the president's policies. It would appear that the Republicans are finally getting their flag on. Hooah!
Eric Hanonoki at Media Matters delved into what the hell West is going on about:
The Military Times reported that the Department of Defense will expand an existing program, Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI), to allow recruiters "to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training." The program "is capped at 1,500 recruits per year. Officials say it's unclear how many of those might be unlawful DACA status immigrants as opposed to others who are also eligible for military service under MAVNI, including those with legal, nonpermanent visas such as students or tourists."
The Times noted that "the military recruits about 5,000 noncitizens each year, nearly all of them permanent U.S. residents, or so-called 'green card' holders. Starting in 2006, DoD began accepting some foreigners with nonpermanent visas, such as students or tourists, if they had special skills that are highly valued. After entering military service, foreigners are eligible for expedited U.S. citizenship. Since 2001, more than 92,000 foreign-born service members have become citizens while serving in uniform."
That's an emergency for sure. The last thing we need is special skills in the military. All we need is some manly men who can kick ass and take names. Maybe we could get those Duck Dynasty guys to sign up. I hear they're Real Americans.
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