1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

Reports and proposals suggesting that undocumented migrants could be detained and then declared eligible for military conscription represent a profound violation of the Constitution and the most basic principles of law. The United States government cannot lawfully detain people outside of due process and then compel them into military service. Conscription under U.S. law applies to those registered with the Selective Service system, and it exists within a framework of legal rights and obligations tied to citizenship and lawful status. Detaining undocumented migrants and coercing them into service would amount to forced labor under threat of confinement—something the Thirteenth Amendment explicitly forbids. Beyond the constitutional violation, such a policy would weaponize immigration enforcement and transform detention facilities into pipelines for involuntary military service. That is incompatible with a democratic society governed by the rule of law. Congress must immediately and unequivocally reject any attempt to use immigration detention as leverage for military conscription. Clarify the law, prohibit this practice, and conduct oversight to ensure that no agency of the federal government is even contemplating such a policy. The Constitution does not permit the government to imprison vulnerable people and then draft them. If such an idea is circulating within the executive branch, it must be stopped now.