Delays snarl route to U.S. citizenship for migrants in military

MIAMI — Thousands of immigrants who joined the U.S. military with promises of a fast track to citizenship are stuck in limbo as new screening measures have taken far longer than expected, leaving some military members around the nation unable to become citizens or even go to basic training.

In the Army alone, about 4,300 people are awaiting the completion of their background checks, said Hank Minitrez, a spokesman for the Army. Until they are cleared, they cannot enter basic training or deploy overseas, leaving them stuck on bases if they are on active duty.

Immigrants must be in the United States legally in order to enlist. But the new vetting measures, begun in the waning months of the Obama administration, have taken so long that by November, the legal status of up to 1,500 people who enlisted in active duty or the Reserve had expired while they waited for clearance, the Army said.

They cannot legally drive or find work, a problem for reservists, who do not draw a full-time military paycheck. Although the Army is granting some extensions, they could eventually be subject to deportation, the Army said.

Some enlistees who were at the doorstep of citizenship have had the door slammed shut at the last minute.

One Army reservist in South Florida who had been scheduled for her citizenship oath Thursday was turned away. A trauma surgeon in Springfield, Ill., who signed up for the Army Reserve was scheduled to become a citizen on May 5, then learned that his case was delayed.

Anbazhagan Chinnappillai, who came to the United States from India in 2013 on a student visa, lost the visa when the university where he was studying discovered he had enlisted. His original ship-out date has been postponed indefinitely.

“I thought joining the military was going to help me have a better life, like an American dream,” he said.

Chinnappillai had signed up for Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, known as MAVNI, an immigrant recruiting program created by the George W. Bush administration to bring more foreign-language speakers and trained doctors into the armed forces. Some 10,000 people, most of them in the Army, have joined with the promise of a quick path to citizenship, which many have received.

Dreamers, immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children and have been granted a reprieve from deportation, are eligible, as are immigrants with valid visas at the time they sign up. Legal permanent residents, or green-card holders, have been able to enlist and win speedy citizenship for years under a separate program.

President Donald Trump has voiced support for letting noncitizens serve in the military, but some — including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, when he was a senator — have expressed security concerns. So did officials in the Obama administration, who added additional screening beginning last fall.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services referred calls to the Pentagon. The Defense Department acknowledged that the new screening methods had caused “some delays.”

The scrutiny is extensive. According to a lawsuit filed by seven MAVNI members who said the Defense Department was improperly stalling them, the investigation covers at least 10 years of finances, education and professional activities, on top of credit and criminal background checks. The individual must complete an exhaustive questionnaire and is interviewed by an investigator, often for several hours. Close relatives, references, employers, neighbors and colleagues are also interviewed.

The process involves various agen-