As President Obama continues through his second term, opposition to his ability to issue executive orders has been on the rise. 

Detractors say that many of these orders are illegal, and that such decisions should be made by Congress and not the President.

Recently, former U.S. Representative Allen West (R-FL) posted on his Facebook page that President Obama had issued another executive order, seemingly under the cover of darkness, that would bring illiegal immigrants into the military.  Here's what West posted:

"Morning folks. While you were sleeping, Barack Hussein Obama took out his pen and ordered our Military to enlist illegal aliens. In other words, this charlatan has allowed those who have disrespected our Constitution and are not citizens to take an oath to support and defend the very document, our rule of law, of which they are in violation....."

Our partners at PolitiFact took a look at the idea that the military is enlisting illegal immigrants.  PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that West's claim rates MOSTLY FALSE on the Truth-O-Meter.  Gillin said that this claim is drawn from two different programs that span two presidencies.

"Back in 2008, President George W. Bush started a program that allowed documented immigrants, not citizens, to join the military if they had certain language skills," said Gillin.  "They were looking for documented aliens who were doctors or nurses who could speak languages like Haitian-Creole, Chinese, or Farsi.  Then in 2012, President Barack Obama started a program that had a pathway to a visa for the children of illegal immigrants."

Gillin said that after renewal this year, those two programs currently share a common link.  "The Bush program was up for renewal on September 30th, and it was renewed by the Obama administration," said Gillin.  "The Obama administration then said that, in addition to the documented immigrant doctors and nurses who were eligible for the Bush program, they were going to allow qualifying individuals from the Obama program to also apply to the Bush program.  Now, that means that it is possible for documented immigrants to join the military, but the number of people that we're talking about is rather small."

In fact, Gillin points out that the Bush program was limited to accepting 1,500 people per year.  "The Pentagon told us that it is not their policy to allow people with undocumented family members to enlist," said Gillin.  "The other thing to keep in mind is that it would be extremely difficult for these people to pass a background check that would allow them near top secret material."

Gillin says that there's a kernel of truth in West's Facebook post about the potential for documented immigrants to enlist in the military, but the sweeping generalizations that West made which imply that the military is actively seeking out illegal immigrants is incorrect, which means that West's statement rates MOSTLY FALSE on the Truth-O-Meter.

 

SOURCES: Obama ordered military to enlist illegal immigrants?