Non-Citizens in Today's Military: Final Report

Since the Revolutionary War, U.S. legal permanent residents have been eligible to enlist in the military. Today, about 35,000 non-citizens serve in the military and about 8,000 enlist every year. As the military continues to face recruiting challenges, an ever-growing young immigrant population could help fill future gaps. This paper examines immigration’s effects on the recruitable-age population and the success of non-citizen service members in the military. We find that, controlling for other factors, 3-month attrition rates for non-citizens are 3.7 percentage points lower than for citizens. Similarly, 36-month attrition rates for non-citizen accessions are between 9 and 20 percentage points lower than those for white U.S. citizens. Since September 11, 2001, there have been several policy changes that may encourage more non-citizens to consider military service. For example, today’s service members are eligible for expedited citizenship, and the military services have worked with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to streamline the citizenship application process for service members. In fact, we find that many service members attain their citizenship while serving. The military also has initiated several new programs, including opportunities for translators, which may hold particular appeal for non-citizens.