Several former high-level intelligence and military officials have written to Congress to insist that our legislators immediately act to pass an amnesty for so-called "Dreamers" — aliens who entered the United States illegally as minors, ostensibly "through no fault of their own" as the line goes. In many instances, these Dreamers entered illegally as teens entirely of their own behest, but that's a story for another time.
These officials include such luminaries as Janet Napolitano, present president of the University of California — a proud sanctuary campus — who is also a former secretary of Homeland Security best known for devising ways to make it increasingly difficult for federal immigration enforcement agents to do their jobs.
In the letter, they say:
As national security leaders, we are particularly concerned that the nearly 900 Dreamers who are either currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or are recruits waiting to start boot camp could be deported. Each of these individuals provides highly sought after language or medical skills and, more importantly, has a strong desire to serve our nation.
Wow. Nearly 900 Dreamers. I took a look at a few websites to see the overall size of the U.S. armed forces — about 1,354,054 as of 2014. I doubt that it has changed appreciably. The loss of 900 individuals, some of whom aren't even in boot camp yet, doesn't seem at all significant to me.
What's more, there is reason to doubt whether some of these highly sought-after skills are possessed by the enlistees. The vast majority of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients — the Obama administration's unilateral quasi-amnesty for Dreamers — are Hispanics whose primary language would be Spanish. Is there really a pressing demand for Spanish speakers in the military, given that its active hostile theaters of operation require speakers of Arabic, Urdu, Dari (a predominant language in Afghanistan), and the like?
As for other skills, a Defense Department investigation found that aliens who enlisted under the MAVNI (Military Access Vital to the National Interests) program, ostensibly because of rare and highly desirable skills, were often employed in jobs as cooks or other low-skilled occupations, and that some who were enlisted represented significant security risks. As a result, the program was suspended.
The MAVNI program, it's worth noting, happened under the watch of several of the former defense secretaries who were signatories to the letter. It appears that they've learned nothing from that exposé, and neither have the former Intelligence community officials who signed, given that the security risks incumbent in granting special access for Dreamer enlistees is at least as high as it was for MAVNI enlistees.
In sum, this letter should be seen for what it is: a politico-philosophical statement about their support for amnesties and open borders, not a legitimate declaration of pressing national need.