( CNN ) -- Three years ago , the U.S. Armed Forces struggled with a serious recruiting crisis , a crisis that evaporated temporarily only when the economy slumped . As it recovers and our population continues to age , the Armed Forces will face yet another challenge in recruiting the high-quality people needed for the modern military . For that reason , the Department of Defense identified the DREAM Act as a smart way to expand the pool of eligible candidates for enlistment . The Development , Relief and Education of Alien Minors ( DREAM ) Act is a bipartisan bill that would provide a path to legal residence for undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children . The conditions : They must graduate from high school , demonstrate good moral character , and -- to keep their legal status -- complete at least two years of higher education or at least two years service in the U.S. military . Without the relief of the DREAM Act , the future of these American-educated young people is bleak . About 65,000 such eligible students graduate from U.S. high schools each year , but upon graduation , these young people , who include honor roll students , star athletes and junior ROTC members , hit a wall . Instead of advancing to college or the military and later repaying the investment that taxpayers made in their education , they live in fear of being discovered by the Department of Homeland Security and deported to their `` home '' country , even if it is a country they can not remember and where they have no friends , family or support . Two potential DREAM Act students are David Cho , a senior honors student at the University of California , Los Angeles , and Cesar Vargas , a third-year law student at the City University of New York . Cho , who dreams of joining the Air Force after graduation , is at the top of his class and has lived in the United States since he was 9 years old . Vargas has lived here since he was 5 and wants to be a military lawyer after graduation . David and Cesar are exactly the kind of recruits the military needs : self-motivated and eager to defend the country they love . Without the DREAM Act , both will be deported . Bill Carr , former acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel , has called the DREAM Act `` very appealing '' to the military because it applies to the `` cream of the crop '' of students . Potential DREAM Act beneficiaries like David and Cesar are a military recruiter 's dream candidates for enlistment , even if they have no legal status . They are Americanized , having lived in the United States for at least five years , unlike the newly lawful permanent residents whom the military currently enlists . DREAM Act beneficiaries have no adult period of residence in a foreign country , making it easier to perform background checks for security clearance . They often speak both English and another language fluently . Many have participated in Junior ROTC in high school . They do not have criminal records or other evidence of bad character . They have graduated from a U.S. high school . If approved as DREAM Act beneficiaries , they will have passed rigorous criminal background and security checks from DHS . They will have `` conditional lawful residence , '' which is recognized under current military recruiting regulations . Thus , the military will not have to change its regulations or process their enlistments differently from other recruits . Finally , they will be motivated to serve the United States so as to be given a chance to stay here . Opponents of the DREAM Act call it a `` sugar-coated '' amnesty that rewards lawbreakers . To them , the best solution to the problem of illegal residents who are also high-achieving students with dreams of serving in the military is deportation , even though that would massively benefit their countries of birth while depriving the United States of their talents . Instead of wearing our uniforms , these recruits could be recruited to work for foreign governments , foreign militaries and foreign intelligence agencies . At a time when we are focused on protecting our borders and quashing threats to our national security , it seems unwise to export thousands of American-educated and American-acculturated young people to militaries other than our own . The House and Senate are poised to consider the DREAM Act during the current lame duck session of Congress . The vote presents an opportunity for our lawmakers to increase military recruitment , enhance U.S. national security and help high-achieving young people at the same time . I strongly urge members of Congress to pass this long overdue measure . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Margaret Stock .
Margaret Stock : Armed forces expect to face another recruiting crisis as economy recovers . DREAM Act could help both undocumented young people and the military , she says . Stock : Those brought to U.S. as children could serve in U.S. military in a transition to citizenship . This allows high - achieving young people to enlist rather than be drafted , she says .