Immigrants in the US military

Dear Editor,

Recently, several newspapers have published articles about the Department of Defense discharg-ing immigrant recruits from the military. These articles referenced immigrants who enlisted with a promised path to U.S. citizenship. It is true that the military has a small and very exclusive pro-gram that benefits immigrants and the U.S. military called Military Accessions Vital to the Na-tional Interest (MAVNI). It is a special recruiting program that has been available to certain im-migrants interested in joining the military with a desire to gain eligibility for U.S. citizenship. Additional research indicates that a current estimate of 40 immigrants have a questionable appli-cation jeopardizing their contract with the military and their future path to citizenship out of an estimated 10,000 currently serving in the military.

Every individual who applies for military service must pass background checks, regardless of cit-izenship. Some may require additional screening depending on their background. In 2016, the Obama administration

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