ARMY DISCHARGING IMMIGRANT RECRUITS Attorneys say more than 40 men and women who enlisted with promised path to citizenship have been dropped or had their status put in question
SAN ANTONIO — Some immigrant U. S. Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged, the Associated Press has learned.
The AP was unable to quantify how many men and women who enlisted through the special recruitment program have been booted from the Army, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who have been discharged or whose status has become questionable, jeopardizing their futures.
“It was my dream to serve in the military,” said reservist Lucas Calixto, a Brazilian immigrant who filed a lawsuit against the Army last week. “Since this country has been so good to me, I thought it was the least I could do to give back to my adopted country and serve in the United States military.”
Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them.
Spokespeople for the Pentagon and the Army said that, due to the pending litigation, they were unable to explain the discharges or respond to questions about whether there have been policy changes in any of the military branches.
Eligible recruits are required to have legal status in the U. S., such as a student visa, before enlisting. More than 5,000 immigrants were recruited into the program in 2016, and an estimated 10,000 are currently serving. Most go the Army.
To become citizens, the service members need an honorable service designation, which can come after even just a few days at boot camp. But the recently discharged service members have had their basic training delayed, so they can’t be naturalized.
The AP interviewed Calixto and recruits from Pakistan and Iran, all of whom said they were devastated by their discharges.
“Now the great feeling I had when I enlisted is going down the drain,” said Calixto, 28. “I don’t understand why this is happening.”
Calixto filed a lawsuit alleging the Defense Department hadn’t given him a chance to defend himself or appeal. He said he was given no specific grounds other than “personnel security.”
The Pakistani service member who spoke to the AP said he learned in a phone call a few weeks ago that his military career was over.
He asked that his name be withheld because he fears he might be forced to return to Pakistan, where he could face danger as a former U. S. Army enlistee.
Portions of the 22- year- old’s military file reviewed by the AP said he was so deeply loyal to the U. S. that his relationships with his family and fiancee in Pakistan would not make him a security threat. Nonetheless, the documents show the Army cited those foreign ties as a concern.
An Iranian citizen who came to the U. S. for a graduate degree in engineering told the AP that he enlisted in the program hoping to gain medical training.
“It’s terrible because I put my life in the line for this country, but I feel like I’m being treated like trash,” he said. “If I am not eligible to become a U. S. citizen, I am really scared to return to my country.”