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Monday 1 october 2018

Pentagon’s immigrant recruit program stymied

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Asso- est developments, Air Force on immigration, both legal the program in 2016 after stalled in the intake pro-
ciated Press Maj. Carla Gleason, a Pen- and illegal, an important el- several classified assess- cess, waiting a year or
WASHINGTON (AP) — Strict- tagon spokeswoman, said, ement of his administration. ments concluded that it more to get through the
er Trump administration “the unique skill sets these Asked about the issue, a “was vulnerable to an un- updated screening.
immigration policies have Dozens of the immigrant
stymied Pentagon plans to recruits were discharged
restart a program that al- or had their contracts can-
lowed thousands of peo- celed as the background
ple with critical medical checks dragged on, lead-
or Asian and African lan- ing to complaints and law-
guage skills to join the mili- suits. Defense officials said
tary and become Ameri- the delays were likely be-
can citizens, according to cause the remaining appli-
several U.S. officials. cants required more com-
The decade-old program plicated security checks
has been on hold since 2016 that take longer to com-
amid concerns that immi- plete.
grant recruits were not be- In response to the suits, the
ing screened well enough, Army stopped processing
and security threats were discharges last month and
slipping through the system. reinstated at least three
Defense officials shored up dozen recruits who had
the vetting process, and been thrown out of the ser-
planned to relaunch the vice.
program earlier this month. Officials said the Pentagon
But there was an unexpect- is exploring other ways to
ed barrier when Home- adjust or replace the pro-
land Security officials said gram in order to bring immi-
they would not be able to grants with those skills into
protect new immigrant re- the military. But the officials
cruits from being deported said it will be difficult and
when their temporary visas that it probably will take a
expired after they signed good deal of time.
a contract to join the mili- The struggle with the pro-
tary, the U.S. officials said. gram comes as the admin-
They were not authorized istration has imposed more
to publicly describe inter- stringent rules for immigra-
nal discussions and spoke In this Oct. 30, 2017, file photo, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, testifies during a Senate Foreign tion, aimed largely at the
on condition of anonymity. Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. country’s border with Mex-
The program is called Mili- Associated Press. ico.
tary Accessions Vital to Those moves reflect Trump’s
the National Interest pro- individuals bring is one of Homeland Security official acceptable level of risk calculation that his promise
gram, or MAVNI. The plan the reasons the U.S. mili- said recruits without legal from insider threats such as to end illegal immigration
to restart it was backed tary is the world’s premier immigration status would espionage, terrorism, and and build a wall along that
by Defense Secretary Jim fighting force.” She had no be subject to deportation, other criminal activity.” border fueled his election,
Mattis, who believes that comment on the internal but each case is reviewed Army Secretary Mark Es- and that stressing the same
noncitizens can bring key discussions to relaunch the individually. The official per, another advocate of issues will drive voters to the
skills, language abilities, program. spoke on condition of ano- the program, said recently polls and help the GOP re-
and cultural knowledge to The officials familiar with the nymity to discuss internal that about of 80 percent of tain its majorities in the Sen-
the military. discussions said Homeland deliberations. MAVNI recruits who have ate and House.
Mattis, a combat veteran Security told the Pentagon Over the past 10 years, the gone through screening The MAVNI program, how-
of multiple war tours, has that it would not be able military services have re- were approved and enlist- ever, is not targeted at
fought with and com- sign any agreement block- cruited more than 10,000 ed into the service. But he Spanish speakers, because
manded foreign nationals, ing the deportation of the immigrants through the added that the Army must the military has a large
and he believes their ser- immigrant recruits brought program. “exercise due diligence, number of those. Instead,
vice adds to the lethality in under the program. In recent years, however, to make sure we under- according to the Penta-
of America’s fighting force, In previous years, the U.S. the program has been stand who is coming into gon, the top languages
according to the officials. Citizenship and Immigra- mired in controversy amid our ranks and just do that. spoken by recruits brought
The Pentagon chief told re- tion Service used an infor- growing concerns about The process is never quick in through the program are
porters late last month that mal process to give MAVNI security threats and strug- enough, certainly for them, Korean, Chinese Mandarin,
the program is designed recruits protection when gles to develop a proper and for me as well.” Nepalese, Hindi, Swahili,
to enlist immigrants with their temporary or student screening process. Since the program’s sus- Tagalog, French, Yoruba,
needed skills. “We need visas expired because they According to court docu- pension in 2016, hundreds Russian and Portuguese
and want every qualified were entering military ser- ments, more than 20 peo- of immigrants have been Brazilian.q
patriot willing to serve and vice. In addition, Congress ple in the program have
able to serve,” Mattis said. included new restrictions in been the subject of FBI or
At the time, he said the de- the 2019 defense bill that Pentagon counterintelli-
partment was working dili- limit each military service to gence or criminal investi-
gently to address the secu- 1,000 such recruits per year. gations since 2013.
rity screening problems. President Donald Trump Gleason said the Defense
When asked about the lat- has made tighter controls Department suspended linda.reijnders@cspnv.com