As part of a measure tucked into the annual defense policy bill Congress signed into law late last year, young, eligible men will be automatically registered for the military draft pool begining this December.
This sudden change will make it harder for more Americans to dodge a potential military draft.
Later this year, our country will renounce a decades-old process in which young men would self-register their names for Selective Service.
On Dec. 18, 2025, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2026, mandating automatic Selective Service registration.
The mandatory registration applies to green-card holders, refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented men.
Those on non-immigrant visas are exempt.
The policy proposal was made about a month after the U.S. and Israel began a war against Iran.
This revamp of the registration process arises after recent documents have shown that the number of men registering on their own had declined.
Just 81% of eligible men registered in 2024, a 3% drop from the prior year.
These numbers raise concern over our military preparedness status, and the effectiveness of potential future wars with a near-peer power like China.
Since 1980, men ages 18 to 26 who are eligible to be drafted have been required to register with the federal government.
Failure to register would result in a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Being a felon would essentially bar unregistered men from most federal jobs and eligibility of federal student loans.
The approval from Congress is required to enact a draft.
When asked about the possibility of a return of the draft, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump “keeps his options on the table.”
There has not been a military draft since 1973, when the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam was already winding down.
The justification of American military service members’ lives in war often centers on defending national security, freedom and domestic values that are frequently framed through the concept of a “just war.”
Critics argue that the “glorification” of war can be used to legitimize conflicts.
Glorifying war may sometimes mask political motives with the language of sacrifice, creating “deceitful myths” about the necessity of violence.
How can everyday Americans really be sure that we are not the ones being put into the draft?
We are not all “fortunate sons”. It is very easy for the rich to “buy a ticket” out of being drafted, and it is not fair.
It is to the point that representatives of our country like Mark Kelly (D-AZ) are not even hiding the fact that they will not let their kids go to war.
The rich and powerful elite get to reap the benefits without putting in anything, all the while they are the ones who have the most to offer to the pot.
We the staff of The South Texan do not believe in recruiting people into our country’s military just so that they can be easily used as expendable “cannon fodder.”
We feel safer with a force of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Guardians who volunteered to answer the cardinal call of duty.