Enlistment of Immigrants in the US Military: Citizenship, Poverty Draft, and Transnational Militarism

• In Event: 2445 - Dynamics of International Migration

Abstract

Immigrants have served in the US military since the Revolutionary War, and US citizenship is not and has not been a requirement for enlistment in the US Armed Forces. Approximately 5,000 non-citizens enlist every year in recent years. Drawing on 73 interviews with immigrants who volunteered to serve in the US military as non-citizens, I investigate why and how they decided to enlist. I analyze the way the poverty draft – when the decision to enlist is forced by limited economic circumstances and life chances – operates for immigrants, who are facing unique forms of insecurity. I explore the role of militarism and gender, developing the concept of transnational militarism. I investigate the forms and constraints that shape patriotic narratives for immigrants. Finally, the paper includes an analysis of the role of friends, family, and recruiters in the enlistment process. Age at arrivals emerges as a key dimension of difference, with immigrants who come to the US as older teens or adults more likely to be aware and interested in citizenship benefits, have a more critical approach to recruiters and the recruitment process, and to be less influenced by the pervasive US brand of militarism. The paper bridges the study of migrants and the military, which rarely intersect except to examine immigrant performance in the military or to examine the military’s role in immigrant adaptation. Rather, this paper is positioned within a critique of the US empire and militarism, providing a rare qualitative account of the complex ways in which immigrants understand and navigate their decisions to enlist.

Author

• Sofya Aptekar, CUNY - School of Labor and Urban Studies