SAN DIEGO , California ( CNN ) -- What if we offered illegal immigrants a path to citizenship that included a stint in the U.S. military ? Ruben Navarrette : Be wary of offering military service as a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants . The idea has been trumpeted by thoughtful people such as Max Boot , a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations , who thinks this is the time for a `` freedom legion . '' He 's talking about a unit of the military made up entirely of the foreign-born -- including illegal immigrants -- where the compensation would include U.S. citizenship . About 70,000 foreign-born men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces , or about 5 percent of the total active-duty force , according to the Pentagon . Of those , nearly 30,000 -- or about 43 percent -- are not U.S. citizens . Roping illegal immigrants into military service could accomplish two goals at once : helping alleviate the military 's recruitment worries while giving the undocumented a chance to prove that their commitment to this country extends beyond a paycheck . We 're already talking about requiring illegal immigrants to learn English , pay fines , and return to their home countries to earn legal status . Why not , some say , raise the stakes and require men and women between 18 and 42 to serve a couple of years in the military to earn something even more precious : U.S. citizenship for themselves and their children ? The idea appealed to a reader in upstate New York who called me to gauge my reaction . I told him that I had n't made up my mind , but that the concept did fit with my view that any conferring of legal status be laden with onerous conditions so that it really is earned . To earn it , illegal immigrants should have to do everything but walk across broken glass . Still , I told him , I 'm not sure how those who oppose comprehensive reform but support turning illegal immigrants into cannon fodder go about squaring that circle . Restrictionists and racists have argued that illegal immigrants are invading this country , and that they 're a dangerous menace to society that is prone to all sorts of violent and criminal behavior . Of course , many native-born U.S. citizens are just as menacing . But for those who believe that illegal immigrants are inherently violent , do they really want to give these folks military training and a M-16 , to help them graduate from menacing to lethal ? After all , assuming they survive their stint in the military , they eventually have to return stateside . Then they 're our problem . Consider the ghastly events in Newark , New Jersey , where three African-American students were killed execution-style and a fourth was shot in the head but survived . The accused ringleader is Jose Carranza , an illegal immigrant from Peru , who was previously charged with raping a 5-year-old girl and threatening her parents . Twice indicted by grand juries , Carranza slipped through the cracks and was released on bail . Authorities say that the 28-year-old construction worker led at least four other individuals in attacking the youths with a gun and a machete . If convicted , Carranza could get the death penalty . Glad to hear it . If half the things they say about this creep are true , Carranza belongs on death row . But guess what ? He sure does n't belong on an Army recruitment poster , or handling heavy artillery . Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of The San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer . E-mail to a friend .
Is it time for a military `` freedom legion , '' made up of all foreign-born troops ? Is military service as a way to citizenship for illegal immigrants a good idea ? Jose Carranza , accused in the Newark killings , makes the proposal problematic . Score: 6