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Jan 19, 2026 / Haley Britzky / CNN - A military recruiter in Minnesota, pointing to fears over the ongoing ICE operations in Minneapolis, promoted joining the National Guard to high school students highlighting a program that can offer the immediate family of service members some protection against deportation.

The email, sent last week with the subject line “I know [it] is scary out there,” directly addressed ICE detentions.

“All of you have heard about how ICE and how they are taking people without any consideration. … If you are born here and you are 17yrs old, and in a position, like many, where your parents may not be documented. They need you to help!” the email said.

The email pointed to the Parole in Place, or PIP, a program that is run through US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The program is not necessarily guaranteed; it offers parents, spouses, and children of service members protection from deportation on a case-by-case basis, in one-year increments, the USCIS website says. As of fiscal year 2025 it took an average of 4.5 months to process Parole in Place requests.

Tensions have flared in Minneapolis in recent weeks as protestors have faced off with federal law enforcement amid an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, particularly after the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday that more than 10,000 “criminal illegal aliens” have been arrested in Minneapolis, though CNN could not independently verify that number.

One source familiar with the recruiting email told CNN it was sent to roughly 200 students at at least one high school in the Minneapolis area. The email immediately caused confusion and concern among the students who received it, the source said.

CNN attempted to contact the recruiter who sent the email, but did not receive a response.

Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya, a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson, acknowledged the email adding that PIP cannot be used until after someone enlists and while the military “may assist with the process … it is driven by the service member and often requires a lawyer.”

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January 22, 2026 / Emily Graham  -  Moms shape children’s earliest ideas about conflict long before a kid can explain what “war” even is. The toys we buy, the jokes we laugh at, and the stories we put on in the background quietly teach what problems “look like” and how people “solve” them. When play is saturated with enemies, domination, and “win by force,” kids can start treating antagonism as the default script—regardless of gender. The good news: you don’t need a perfect home or a screen-free childhood to steer play toward creativity, mutual care, cooperation, and emotional awareness. Small, repeatable choices—made consistently—add up.

A quick snapshot you can use today is that the aim is to reduce play patterns that normalize violence or enemies as entertainment. The idea is to replace them with play that builds imagination, teamwork, repair, and empathy. When you do that, kids still get excitement and challenge, but their “problem-solving reflex” becomes collaboration instead of conquest.

Amid an ICE crackdown in her area, an Oregon National Guard recruiter offers U.S. citizens a way to save their immigrant parents.

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Jan. 12, 2026 / Greg Jaffe / New York Times - Greg Jaffe spent eight days in The Dalles, Ore., with a recruiter from the Oregon National Guard. She believed that the key to being a good recruiter was not just selling the military and its benefits, but herself. Sgt. First Class Rosa Cortez wanted potential recruits to notice the pictures of her smiling children, her college diploma and the awards she had earned in the course of her nearly 20 years with the Oregon National Guard.

Her goal was to “radiate positivity,” she said. “People will see it and want to align with you.”

Lately though, she, along with hundreds of other recruiters around the country, had been offering something else: protection from the government she served.

President Trump’s second term has been defined by an extensive crackdown on undocumented immigrants that has set off waves of fear in places with large Hispanic populations. In many of these areas, a little-known government program called Parole in Place has become a refuge of last resort and a powerful recruiting tool.

Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to enlist in the military. The Parole in Place program, launched in 2013, provides the undocumented parents and spouses of service members protection from deportation, and an expedited pathway to permanent residency.

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Jan 9, 2026 / Kelsey Baker / Business Insider - Military recruiting is on the upswing, but many recruiters say it's never been harder to get young people interested in service.

Phone lists of numbers that once rang a family landline now dead-end at parents' cellphones. School access can vary from one street to the next. And while a direct message might be the fastest way to reach an overly online 17-year-old, finding the right social media handle can feel like chasing ghosts. The hunt has become so grueling that the time it takes to meet quotas of up to two recruits a month is pushing some recruiters into burnout territory.

These are some of the frustrations Business Insider heard while speaking to nearly four dozen Marine recruiters, leaders, and other officials for a four-part series on recruiter welfare.

The hunt for solutions is on, and legislation and use of artificial intelligence could be on the horizon.

The Pentagon is facing steep declines in young Americans' propensity and fitness to serve and public confidence in the military, long one of the government's most-trusted institutions, according to public polling.

Boosting young Americans' interest in service, and reaching them in the first place, will require more than traditional military recruiting efforts, those involved agree. Political momentum for broader measures is already building.

Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint, outlines a major expansion of recruiting in schools: increased access for recruiters, more Junior ROTC programs, and a requirement that federally funded schools administer the military entrance exam. An effort to provide recruiters with improved access to high schools was included in the national defense spending bill signed into law in December.

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January 09, 2026 / NNOMY staff / National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth - Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the conservative youth‑mobilization organization founded by Charlie Kirk, has dramatically expanded its presence in American high schools. While this development is often framed as a political or cultural phenomenon, its implications reach far beyond partisan organizing. TPUSA’s school‑based activities intersect with a broader national trend toward youth militarization, particularly under the Trump 2.0 administration, which has embraced policies that expand JROTC, increase recruiter access, and embed military programs more deeply into public education. This report examines how TPUSA’s presence in high schools contributes to a cultural, institutional, and political environment that increases the likelihood of military enlistment among young people. Drawing on academic research, independent media, and counter‑recruitment scholarship, it argues that TPUSA’s expansion is not merely a political project but a structural shift that places high‑school students at heightened risk of recruitment.