As deportation fears rise in Latino communities, a little-known military immigration program gains new urgency
Hundreds of recruiters around the country, had been offering something else: protection from the government they served.
President Trump’s second term has been defined by an extensive crackdown on undocumented immigrants that has set off waves of fear in places with large Hispanic populations. In many of these areas, a little-known government program called Parole in Place has become a last-resort refuge and a powerful recruiting tool.
Only U.S. Citizens and permanent residents are eligible to enlist in the military. The Parole in Place program, launched in 2013, provides the undocumented parents and spouses of service members protection from deportation, and an expedited pathway to permanent residency.
National Guard soldiers train one weekend a month and two weeks every summer. During times of war, domestic unrest or natural disaster, they can be mobilized by states or the federal government to full-time duty.
Mr. Trump has also sought to deploy Guard soldiers on policing missions in cities across the country, including Portland, Ore., where the courts recently ruled that he could not send troops over the objections of local officials. On Thursday, Border Control agents shot two people in Portland during a traffic stop, stoking anger and protests.
Parole in Place’s origins trace to May 2007, one of the deadliest months of the Iraq War. Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez’s platoon was patrolling a village south of Baghdad when insurgents attacked and took him captive. His remains were recovered more than a year later.
While thousands of U.S. Troops searched for the 25-year-old soldier, his wife, who had entered the United States illegally from the Dominican Republic, was being deported. Amid a public outcry, the Bush administration granted her permanent residency.
“The sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families deserve our greatest respect,” said Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary at the time.
The program was formalized a few years later. The goal was to provide soldiers peace of mind before they went to war. If a service member drops out or is dishonorably discharged, their family member loses protective status. In 2023, about 11,500 relatives of military recruits used the benefit, a 35 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The agency did not respond to requests for more recent data. But several states reported a recent emergence in program listings. In Nevada, 79 enlistees, or about 20 percent of the state’s new National Guard recruits in 2025, used the program.
