OBAMA "Effectively Froze" Citizenship-for-Military-Service Program for Foreigners

[mikegriffith1]

In recent months, dozens of foreigners who signed up for MAVNI--the program that offered the promise of citizenship in exchange for military service--have been summarily discharged from the military. The Navy Times reports that it was the Obama administration that "effectively froze" the program in 2016 by ordering that MAVNI recruits undergo additional background screening:

In 2016, the Obama administration directed that those MAVNI recruits face additional background screening and effectively froze the program. The last MAVNI recruits entered around October 2016, right after the additional background checks were directed. Since then, no additional recruits have joined through MAVNI, said retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. Margaret Stock. (Here’s the bottom line on the future of MAVNI: Many foreign-born recruits may soon be out)​

Let me be clear: I think Trump should order an immediate halt to the discharging of MAVNI recruits and demand a review of the cases of those who have been discharged for no apparent good reason. Some of the MAVNI recruits have been discharged because they failed their background checks, but others have been discharged without explanation or simply because they have relatives in foreign countries. One of them was a PhD who was pro-Republican!

 

[JakeStarkey]

Up and down with this issue, Mike. I imagined you worked with such foreigners in the military as I did. None of the soldiers I knew who were immigrants did anything other than their jobs; they were good soldiers.

However . . . NSA had rules that the military had to follow, and one of those was that soldiers with family in certain countries could not get certain level of security clearances, which barred them from certain MOSs or stations. Now the intel agencies apparently can say "Mike" or "Jake" can't serve because of immigrant status.

I think that is poor personnel management.

 

[mikegriffith1]

Up and down with this issue, Mike. I imagined you worked with such foreigners in the military as I did. None of the soldiers I knew who were immigrants did anything other than their jobs; they were good soldiers.

However . . . NSA had rules that the military had to follow, and one of those was that soldiers with family in certain countries could not get certain level of security clearances, which barred them from certain MOSs or stations. Now the intel agencies apparently can say "Mike" or "Jake" can't serve because of immigrant status.

I think that is poor personnel management.

I totally agree. Most of these folks aren't working in jobs that require Top Secret or SCI clearances, or even Secret. A Secret clearance should be a pretty easy thing to get, relatively speaking. People who are willing to potentially put themselves in harm's way in the military to become citizens are just the kinds of people we should want in our country. Discharging them for no apparent valid reason makes no sense and is unjust.