Mason Bradley III, ‘Doah Staff Writer
October 1, 2014

’DOAH PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPOST.COM

In the midst of a national terrorist crisis, President Obama tried to sneak an executive order past the American people. The Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program enables the recruitment of people from foreign countries to join American armed forces. This will provide another path for illegal immigrants to come to the United States and gain citizenship. This doesn’t sound like a bad thing at first, but there’s more to it.

MAVNI will provide benefits to these noncitizens that include educational aid, pay and benefits from service and expedited citizenship. Due to the passing of this plan, it is estimated that between 1.2 million and 2.1 million illegal immigrants are now eligible to be recruited. Instead of continuing to recruit citizens of the country that have roots integrated into U.S. history, the Obama administration has helped turn the military’s sights to immigrants that take American jobs.

As if hiring foreigners for U.S. military wasn’t bad enough, numbers are being severely reduced. The Army has to cut down its active-duty ranks by 80,000 soldiers. This is the first step in a vow Obama promised to aggressively use his executive authority to manipulate the way immigration policies are handled. Once again, Obama feels that instead of reaching an agreement with Congress, he should be able to use his power as he wishes and surpass them so that his plan can go into effect.

In the long run, what does this mean for American citizens? There are fewer opportunities to defend your country, and the little opportunities left are being designated for people that were born outside of your country with no connection to your history here. Since 2001, it is estimated that nearly 92,000 foreign-born servicemembers have gained citizenship while serving. It also means that the people we train to defend our freedom are ones that were not born with the same ideals and values as our fellow Americans. If America is one of the world’s greatest powerhouses, why should our military be constructed of foreigners? Instead, continue giving the jobs and opportunity to defend this great nation to fellow warm-blooded Americans and help enhance our sense of pride and loyalty.