WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. immigration lawyer says changing the birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment could hurt military recruiting.
Conservative activists have been pushing to supersede the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which among other things guarantees citizenship to everyone born in the United States, whatever their parents' status.
Margaret Stock, who practices law in Anchorage, Alaska, and is retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, said the number of potential recruits could drop by 8 percent to 10 percent, The Arizona Republic reported. Jeanne Batalova of the Migration Policy Institute told the newspaper she estimates 8.1 percent of active military members have at least one immigrant parent.
While the military does not provide information on how many people in the ranks are immigrants, officials say about 12 percent are Hispanic. Pentagon studies suggest immigrants are more likely than others to enlist and tend to stay in the service longer, Stock said.
