Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 10 august 2018
For now, Army suspends discharges of immigrant recruits

By MARTHA MENDOZA and mer U.S. Army enlistee.
GARANCE BURKE The reversal comes as the
The U.S. Army has stopped Defense Department has
discharging immigrant re- attempted to strength-
cruits who enlisted seeking en security requirements
a path to citizenship — at for the program, through
least temporarily. which historically immi-
A memo shared with The As- grants vowed to risk their
sociated Press on Wednes- lives for the promise of U.S.
day and dated July 20 citizenship.
spells out orders to high- President George W. Bush
ranking Army officials to ordered "expedited natu-
stop processing discharges ralization" for immigrant
of men and women who soldiers after 9/11 in an ef-
enlisted in the special im- fort to swell military ranks.
migrant program, effective Seven years later the Mili-
immediately. tary Accessions Vital to the
It was not clear how many National Interest program,
recruits were impacted by known as MAVNI, became
the action, and the Penta- an official recruiting pro-
gon did not immediately re- gram.
spond to requests for com- In this July 3, 2018, file photo, a Pakistani recruit, 22, who was recently discharged from the U.S. It came under fire from
ment about the memo. Army, holds an American flag as he poses for a picture. conservatives when Presi-
"Effective immediately, you Associated Press dent Barack Obama
will suspend processing of added DACA recipients
all involuntary separation said they were given no specific policy change and tions to a broader group — young immigrants who
actions," read the memo reason for their discharge. that background checks of reservists and recruits in were brought to the U.S. il-
signed by Acting Assistant Others said the Army in- were ongoing. And in mid- the program, demanding legally as children — to the
Secretary of the Army for formed them they'd been July the Army reversed one that prior discharges be list of eligible enlistees. In
Manpower and Reserve Af- labeled as security risks be- discharge, for Brazilian re- revoked and that further response, the military lay-
fairs Marshall Williams. cause they have relatives servist Lucas Calixto, 28, separations be halted. ered on additional secu-
The disclosure comes one abroad or because the De- who had sued. Nonethe- A judge's order references rity clearances for recruits
month after the AP re- fense Department had not less, discharges of other the July 20 memo, and asks to pass before heading to
ported that dozens of im- completed background immigrant enlistees contin- the Army to clarify how it boot camp.
migrant enlistees were be- checks on them. ued. Attorneys sought to impacts the discharge sta- The Trump Administration
ing discharged or had their Early last month, the Penta- bring a class action lawsuit tus of Calixto and other added even more hurdles,
contracts cancelled. Some gon said there had been no last week to offer protec- plaintiffs. As part of the creating a backlog within
memo, Williams also in- the Defense Department.
structed Army officials to Last fall, hundreds of re-
recommend whether the cruits still in the enlistment
military should issue further process had their contracts
guidance related to the canceled.
program. Government attorneys
Margaret Stock, an Alas- called the recruitment
ka-based immigration at- program an "elevated se-
torney and a retired Army curity risk" in another case
Reserve lieutenant colonel involving 17 foreign-born
who helped create the im- military recruits who en-
migrant recruitment pro- listed through the program
gram, said Wednesday the but have not been able to
memo proves there was a clear additional security re-
policy. quirements. Some recruits
"It's an admission by the had falsified their back-
Army that they've improp- ground records and were
erly discharged hundreds connected to state-spon-
of soldiers," she said. "The sored intelligence agen-
next step should be go cies, the court filing said.
back and rescind the peo- Eligible recruits are required
ple who were improperly to have legal status in the
discharged." Discharged U.S., such as a student visa,
recruits and reservists before enlisting. More than
reached Wednesday said 5,000 immigrants were re-
their discharges were still in cruited into the program
place as far as they knew. in 2016, and an estimated
One Pakistani man caught 10,000 are currently serv-
by surprise by his discharge ing. Nearly 110,000 mem-
said he was filing for asylum. bers of the Armed Forces
He asked that his name be have gained citizenship
withheld because he fears by serving in the U.S. mili-
he might be forced to re- tary since Sept. 11, 2001,
turn to Pakistan, where he according to the Defense
could face danger as a for- Department.q