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US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits

Rogue Valley

Rogue Valley

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US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits

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7/6/18
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Some immigrant U.S. Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged, the Associated Press has learned. The AP was unable to quantify how many men and women who enlisted through the special recruitment program have been booted from the Army, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who have been discharged or whose status has become questionable, jeopardizing their futures. “It was my dream to serve in the military,” said reservist Lucas Calixto, a Brazilian immigrant who filed a lawsuit against the Army last week. “Since this country has been so good to me, I thought it was the least I could do to give back to my adopted country and serve in the United States military.” Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them. Eligible recruits are required to have legal status in the U.S., such as a student visa, before enlisting. More than 5,000 immigrants were recruited into the program in 2016, and an estimated 10,000 are currently serving. Most go the Army, but some also go to the other military branches.

Margaret Stock, an Alaska-based immigration attorney and a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who helped create the immigrant recruitment program, said she’s been inundated over the past several days by recruits who have been abruptly discharged. All had signed enlistment contracts and taken an Army oath, Stock said. Many were reservists who had been attending unit drills, receiving pay and undergoing training, while others had been in a “delayed entry” program, she said. “Immigrants have been serving in the Army since 1775,” Stock said. “We wouldn’t have won the revolution without immigrants. And we’re not going to win the global war on terrorism today without immigrants.” Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 110,000 members of the Armed Forces have gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military, according to the Defense Department. In general, the immigrant recruits have been more cost-effective, outperforming their fellow soldiers in the areas of attrition, performance, education and promotions, according to a recently released review by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research institution.
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What's going on here? Why the sudden spasm?
 
1. The Swamp Administration

2. When has the US military ever stopped lying to recruits?
 
Barring significant omissions to the story, this is completely disgusting.

There can be no better way to become a citizen than after a term of service to the nation.

I believe this is the sort of program that should be expanded, to the extent that I'd support increasing the size of our infantry, even though we aren't likely to need massed troops outside humanitarian work ever again. It's make-work, but it creates jobs, and I'm under the impression the military is pretty good at crash coursing people in basic English. At the end of their service, they pop out a freshly minted citizen, with some money in their pocket and job skills.

Who thinks this is good policy, even amongst Trump supporters? As CinC, this is his policy and he can change it at will.
 
Rogue Valley said:
US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits

DhYuFfJW0AEOMsl.jpg


What's going on here? Why the sudden spasm?
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For one, they are not even "recruits", they are more correctly "Poolees". Recruits are in training. They are subject to UCMJ. Poolees are those who have signed up, but not gone anywhere yet.

Kinda like the AF chick that got booted out last month after her video yelling racial slurs went viral last month. No hearing needed, just look at what she did, and out she went.

As for why, it is rather obvious. These individuals have been pending background checks. And the checks have not come through. And it is nothing new, I have seen this myself in regards to people who are naturally born US citizens.

In a great many jobs like PATRIOT or IT, you have to have a security clearance of SECRET or higher. And it generally takes 3-12 months to get the final results. That means that in most cases (but not all), the clearance is given (or denied) by the time they finish training. If it comes back while in training, they simply reclassify them to another MOS (generally 88M). But sometimes it takes so long, they are already awarded an MOS and sent to a unit.

In those cases, depending on manpower needs and initial contract, they might be retrained to a new MOS that does not require a clearance. Or as I have seen many times, they may simply discharge them. I have seen well over a dozen US born citizens discharged for this reason.

And believe it or not, in this case the Army is required to do this. Pre-Recruit contracts can only run for 364 days. If for any reason the background check takes this long and the individual does not ship to boot camp within that time (it also happens for medical injury, background check, educational requirements, etc), the contract is at that point null and void. The contract is cancelled, and the individual discharged with a rating of "General - Unconditional". Which means 80% of the time they are more than welcome to try again (provided the issues that caused the first contract to be cancelled are resolved).

These things are routine, and have been going on for decades. Not sure what the big uproar is all of a sudden. But I also smell a political purpose in this, as there is no such thing as a "promised path to citizenship" in serving in the military. Serving in the Army no more promises citizenship than working at McDonald's does. The only advantage is that the process to becoming naturalized is streamlined a bit and some fees are waived.
 
Army temporarily suspends discharges of immigrant recruits seeking path to citizenship

8/9/18
The U.S. Army has stopped discharging immigrant recruits who enlisted seeking a path to citizenship — at least temporarily. A memo shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday and dated July 20 spells out orders to high-ranking Army officials to stop processing discharges of men and women who enlisted in the special immigrant program, effective immediately. It was not clear how many recruits were impacted by the action, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the memo. "Effective immediately, you will suspend processing of all involuntary separation actions," read the memo signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Marshall Williams.

The reversal comes as the Defense Department has attempted to strengthen security requirements for the program, through which historically immigrants vowed to risk their lives for the promise of U.S. citizenship. President George W. Bush ordered "expedited naturalization" for immigrant soldiers after 9/11 in an effort to swell military ranks. Seven years later the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, known as MAVNI, became an official recruiting program. Eligible recruits are required to have legal status in the U.S., such as a student visa, before enlisting. More than 5,000 immigrants were recruited into the program in 2016, and an estimated 10,000 are currently serving. Nearly 110,000 members of the Armed Forces have gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Defense Department.
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Seems the US Army has reconsidered.

Army using drug waivers, bonuses to fill ranks

Navy: No Immigrant Sailors Admitted Under MAVNI Are Facing Separation
 
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