AURORA | U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is urging House Republicans in Congress to pass a bill that would give individuals with temporary visas and some undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship through military service.

The bill would provide a path to citizenship for the roughly 1.8 million youth who were brought to the country illegally as children: who can receive temporary residency status through Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals program.

“It’s not a surprise, but we’re glad to see Congressman Coffman being a leader on the immigration reform conversation. However, we want him to be working with his colleagues to allow other aspiring Americans the rights and responsibilities of citizenship,” said Jesus Altamirano, regional field coordinator for National Council of La Raza in Denver.

Last year, Coffman voted to lift an executive order issued by President Barack Obama that allowed DREAMers to receive temporary work permits and stay in the U.S. He said recently in an email that he supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children and who grew up here and graduated from high school in this country.

“In order to qualify they should either complete a college degree or a certificated skills training program at a vocational school,” he said in an email.

He said his legislation works differently than the DREAM Act, a bill that would grant temporary residency to undocumented residents who have graduated from a two-year college, studied at least two years at a four-year college or served two years in the military.

“My legislation, unlike the DREAM Act, starts processing undocumented recruits for citizenship as soon as they are admitted into the military and by the time they are ready to graduate from basic training, in their respective branch of service, they will become naturalized citizens of the United States … without citizenship, the enlistee cannot get a high enough security clearance which limits the career fields the enlistee can enter into,” he said.

He also said his bill, unlike the DREAM Act, opens up job opportunities within the military for temporary visa holders and provides a pathway for them to enlist and become citizens. Under the bill, citizenship and permanent resident status can be rescinded if the enlistee doesn’t serve five honorable years.

Garett Reppenhagen, Rocky Mountain coordinator for the Vet Voice Foundation, says his organization welcomes the legislation.

“Immigrants play a vital role serving in U.S. military and have proven their dedication to the oath of service.” he said in an email.

According to the Department of Defense, 35,000 non-citizens serve in the military, and about 5,000 permanent resident aliens enlist every year.

The U.S. military currently only allows legal permanent residents to enlist. Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, says that usually means enlistees need a permanent residency, or green card.