Secretary of Defense Gen. Mattis told reporters that DACA amnesty recipients who are in the military will NOT be deported, even if Congress isn’t able to extend their benefits:
Defense Secretary James Mattis said immigrant members of the military who are currently protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will continue to be protected — even if the program expires without congressional action next month.
Mattis, speaking to CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin and other reporters Thursday, said he has spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Kjirsten Nielsen and confirmed that anyone who has enlisted in the military and is waiting to report to boot camp, anyone on active duty or in the active reserves or anyone with an honorable discharge will not be deported. Two exceptions for that would be for anyone who has committed a serious felony or is the subject of a deportation order.
If Congress fails to act before March 5 — the deadline upon which the program is set to expire — “they’re protected,” Mattis said.
Here’s earlier what was said about DACA recipients – it was much less clear then:
And while Dems would like you to think otherwise, relatively few of DACA recipients are in the military – about 900. Since there are about 800,000 DACA applicants, that means less than one out of every thousand are in the military, which is less than one tenth of the average military participant among all Americans…