In a surprise announcement from the Pentagon, the U.S. will now allow undocumented immigrants to serve in the United States armed forces. Yet, the skeptics are already weighing in on this policy that is really not what it seems. The application for military service will be under the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest program. This program recruits skilled foreigners but only if they qualify as DREAMERS. That is, young people who entered the U. S. illegally as children and have graduated from high school with a clean criminal record.

The DREAMERS will only be permitted to join the military if they can fill out a 127 page application that asks if they hold advanced degrees, can speak some rare languages, and asks if they have ever been terrorists. Moreover, they will be competing for only 1,500 openings pitted up against thousands of legal immigrants with nonimmigrant visas who have already applied under this same criteria.

So, in essence, this announcement is simply a gesture to placate Hispanic voters that, when you look under the hood, really does not amount to much.