Posted on 07/05/2018 7:24:45 PM PDT by tkocur
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — 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, but some also go to the other military branches.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Someone willing to die for this country should be first in line for citizenship. I served with a number of these guys, stand up folk.
I had concerns about illegals serving in military a few years back as I first heard of it. I am glad Trump doing some thing about it. Too easy for people to serve while being sleeper cell - lie and play along while learning what they need to to then inflict their damage upon fellow soldiers or american citizens. Alll the while sucking up american dollars and sending abroad or using for their evil plans.
By, definition, every one of those guys in uniform are legal. If they turn out to be unsuitable for Service, that’s a different matter.
Yes, I agree. If a guy is a one time loser, and shows remorse, then it may be okay to send them to the military.
If it’s a guy who has a long rap sheet and has obvious attitude problems, it’s not a good match.
Frankly this is one path to legal citizenship that I could endorse.
If you want to live here badly enough, prove it by serving for a few years.
As other posters have pointed out, there may be very legitimate reasons that these people are being mustered out.
Hooyah!
So you object to them EARNING the right to become Americans, by serving America?
YOu can’t be discharged if you haven’t been sworn on so none of them have been discharged. Just another example of the left twisting facts to support their agenda.
And what do you know about the French Foreign Legion, bub?
Do tell! We're all dying to hear your extensive knowledge...
An exact quote from your post. (the one that is central to my original reply.) An assertion totally unsupported by any single fact in the article. My intent was to point out that when you put emotional, angry and apparently hateful elements in a post that is unsupported by the post, you make yourself look bad and by association the rest of us. Don't try using DACA as a counter. I don't agree with DACA, but technically it does give the recipient temporary legal status.
You do site several points from the article which somewhat indicate that you read it. However, again they do not in anyway validate your "damned Illegal Aliens" assertion. Had you instead of putting angry unsupported invective placed any of those points in your original post, which most people on the thread would have read, you may have helped educate some people and prompted discussion among others. Instead you wait until post 73 when next to nobody is reading it and all you are doing is attempting to validate bad behavior which you easily could have corrected in the future without the need for further comment.
At this point, you either understand or not that I was calling you for your behavior not your point of view. I would prefer that those on FreeRepublic be viewed as thoughtful, educated, involved and Respectful. It improves our standing as a meaningful political forum. If you prefer those on FreeRepublic to be viewed as obnoxious jerks, you need not change in any way. I would prefer that you leave out the extraneous invective and help educate people with facts in the posts that people will actually read. It is as always, your choice. I shall not concern myself further with you. As they say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink."
In the fwiw dept, foreigners have served our military admirably since 1776.
I’ve served with Australians, Filipinos and Brits before they actually got their citizenship.
5.56mm
One thing about the French Foreign Legion is that they are kept garrisoned anywhere EXCEPT France. They don’t let them set foot on French soil until their service is completed.
Very true. My Son-in-Law served in the Army (3rd US Infantry Regiment - the Old Guard) and did a tour of duty in Djibouti. While there, they served side-by-side with the 13e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère (13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion). He said they were a highly disciplined unit.
I'm certain that you are correct, since this is what you have done.
Also overlooked, is the fact that many of them had not even gone to Basic Training yet, because of still having their background checks being done, because they either didn't give enough info or some glitches.
Okay, I think he was a citizen, but still.....
Obama only sort of made the DACA people "legal" and that's just one group in this mix.
You're the one who is emotional; not I. And you are so obsessed by me, now, that it's laughable in the extreme!
You don't own this site, your opinion of me is beyond silly, and is just making me laugh at your expense. LOL
What YOU would "prefer", vis-a-vis how people post here, is of less than NO consequence; n00b. And it is also contrary to the visitude amongst posters here, in this site's long history!
President Trump has been and still IS trying to undo DACA, which places that group in limbo now, which means that they are more ILLEGAL now; so don't try to play word games with me!
You really want to keep this passive/aggressive, one sided FLAME WAR going, do you? You just keep making a fool out of yourself...so go right ahead and do it and give the rest of us a barrel full of laughs at your expense. LOL
Am I blind in not seeing any advantage to excluding illegals from the ranks?
I'm sure there are fine recruits without citizenship...but they are here on a lie.
All the immigrants were legal when I was in. Green cards.
Neither Kosciuszko nor Lafayette came here to become "citizens" of an as yet nation.
Yes, later on, we have had some non-citizens in our military who later did become citizens; however, not the same thing as this MAVNI program and Trump has stopped this program dead.
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