Pentagon ponders quick fix for immig plan

WASHINGTON — Stricter Trump administration immigration policies have stymied Pentagon plans to restart a program that allowed thousands of people with critical medical or Asian and African language skills to join the military and become American citizens, according to several U.S. officials.

The decade-old program has been on hold since 2016 amid concerns that immigrant recruits were not being screened well enough, and security threats were slipping through the system. Defense officials shored up the vetting process and planned to relaunch the program.

The program is called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, or MAVNI. The plan to restart it was backed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who believes that noncitizens can bring key skills, language abilities and cultural knowledge to the military.

Mattis, a combat veteran of multiple war tours, has fought with and commanded foreign nationals, and he believes their service adds to the lethality of America’s fighting force, according to the officials.

The Pentagon chief told reporters late last month that the program is designed to enlist immigrants with needed skills. “We need and want every qualified patriot willing to serve and able to serve,” Mattis said. At the time, he said the department was working diligently to address the security screening problems.

When asked about the latest developments, Air Force Maj. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said “the unique skill sets these individuals bring is one of the reasons the U.S. military is the world’s premier fighting force.” She had no comment on the internal discussions to relaunch the program.

The officials familiar with the discussions said Homeland Security told the Pentagon that it would not be able to sign any agreement blocking the deportation of the immigrant recruits brought in under the program.