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U.S. Army Discharged Over 500 Immigrants Recruited Across the Globe for Language or Medical Skills
It's never been about "illegal" immigration. It's about no immigration for Trump-led Republicans by any means necessary. In this post, we see how they do not care if it harms our military, no immigrants allowed.
Over the course of 12 months, the U.S. Army discharged more than 500 immigrant enlistees who were recruited across the globe for their language or medical skills and promised a fast track to citizenship in exchange for their service. The Army began booting out enlistees last year without explanation.
Smart Dissent wrote about the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) recruiting program in July 2017. Read more here. MAVNI provides a fast track to citizenship for non-citizens who join the U.S. military. While not well-known, the program has been in place since 2009 but was put on hold in 2016 by Trump's administration lying that it could bring "bad people" into our military.
The AP has interviewed more than a dozen recruits from countries such as Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, China and Mongolia who all said they were devastated by their unexpected discharges or canceled contracts.
All the enlistees had committed to active duty or reserves; many had been regularly drilling and training with their recruiters in preparation for boot camp while awaiting security clearances.
Badamsereejid Gansukh, whose recruiter told him his Turkish language skills would be an asset to the military, said he didn’t know he was discharged at all until he asked his congressman’s office this summer to help him figure out why his security screening was taking so long. “I never said I refuse to enlist, not at all,” Gansukh said. “Now I feel like I was really targeted in a way. I feel isolated from the rest of the people who are living here.”
Other recruits discharged this year amid stalled security screenings were equally devastated.
Noncitizens have had a long history in the U.S. military. Immigrants have been eligible to enlist since the Revolutionary War.
Margaret Stock, an immigration and national security law expert who helped create the MAVNI program, said the Army is not giving enlistees their legal right to appeal. “They are trying to get rid of people,” she said.
More than 10,000 people have been recruited under the program. They serve all over the world and have contributed to operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Asia-Pacific hotspots. Some are medical specialists: thoracic surgeons, prosthodontists, orthopedic surgeons, and entomologists, to name a few. Some speak critical languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Somali and Pashto, which remain vital to our ability to operate effectively around the world.
As the cases snowballed, some began suing. In response to the litigation, the Army stopped processing discharges last month and reinstated at least three dozen recruits who had been thrown out of the service.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters late last month that he supports the MAVNI program. “We need and want every qualified patriot willing to serve and able to serve,” Mattis said.
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