US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits

I have read the program requirements. I also qualified my comments regarding the volunteer’s performance, indicating the obligations incurred by both parties. Each of these military members is a legal resident of the US. I suspect Additional info will emerge as to the nature of the actions; as this was an initial press report.

SSG Robert Webster - Why do you think we are not bound to fulfill what we said we would here? What did these applicants do that negated their contract with the Army? From what I can tell, it sounds like the government failed to do its due diligence in completely the background checks - that's on the government, not on the applicants. How is it reasonable to cancel their contracts for governmental failure?

MAJ Bryan Zeski - Really? Just two examples as given in the story and the basic requisite requirements:
"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."
And -
"The AP spoke with a 26-year-old woman from Dominica who said she proudly enlisted in the immigrant recruitment program in 2016 while earning her nursing degree. She said she drilled each month with her reserve unit, which gave her an award, and had been awaiting a date to start basic training.

MILITARY ACCESSIONS VITAL TO THE NATIONAL INTEREST
MAVNI INFORMATION SHEET FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
goarmy.com/mavni
If you are a health care professional licensed and residing in the United States, you can earn a commission as an Army Officer and get on the fast track to U.S. citizenship. Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) is a recruiting program that allows legal non-citizens with in-demand skills to join the Army in exchange for expedited U.S. citizenship.
Individuals in this program must serve for either three years on active duty, or six years in the Army Reserve.
EXPEDITED CITIZENSHIP
Individuals who join this program are able to move from non-immigrant visa or asylee/refugee/TPS, directly to U.S. citizenship, bypassing the Green Card process.
The military is the only employer that can offer expedited citizenship. Only military service members can naturalize without first obtaining a Green Card.
PROGRAM CRITERIA
1. Applicants must be in one of the following categories at the time of their enlistment: *Non-immigrant categories E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, TC, TD, TN, U OR V *Asylee, refugee, Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
*Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
2. Applicants must legally reside in the United States for a minimum of two years prior to commissioning (excluding DACA) without a single absence from the country lasting longer than 90 days.
3. Applicants must receive qualifying scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) and an English language proficiency test. APPLICANTS MUST ALSO BE FULLY LICENSED IN THE UNITED STATES. (**My emphasis, added.**)
CURRENT MEDICAL SPECIALTIES RECRUITED
Regular Army (Active Duty): Comprehensive Dentist, Oral Surgeon, Preventive Medicine, Anesthesiologist, Pediatrician, Psychiatrist, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgeon, Emergency Medicine, Nuclear Medical Science Officer, Entomologist, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthetist
Army Reserve: General Dentist, Comprehensive Dentist, Prosthodontist, Oral Surgeon, Preventive Medicine, Urologist, Anesthesiologist, Ophthalmologist, Otolaryngologist (ENT), Psychiatrist, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgeon, Thoracic Surgeon, Orthopedic Surgeon, Emergency Medicine, Entomologist, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Physician Assistant, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
For Army Reserve only: health care professionals in their final year of residency may be eligible to apply to the MAVNI program.
PROGRAM BENEFITS
*Bypass the Green Card process and gain U.S. citizenship
*Attend high-quality training and gain opportunities for advanced schooling
*Gain experience in trauma settings
*Increase your leadership skills
*Earn a competitive salary
WHAT CURRENT SOLDIERS SAY ABOUT THE PROGRAM
“MAVNI allowed me to grow in my medical training. It made me a better physician and human being. Professionally, I am growing day by day. I am becoming an efficient leader in my civilian and military career. The U.S. Army keeps my skills up and pushes me to excel as a physician and as an Officer.”
“I can’t stress enough how I am truly blessed to be a part of the U.S. Army. MAVNI opened the door for me to pursue a higher career. In addition, the U.S. Army gives me fabulous clinical experience that I would not have on the civilian side.”
If you are interested in the MAVNI Health Care Professionals program, please visit your local recruiter. Visit goarmy.com/mavni for more information.


I will no even go into the 1 year cut off information, nor the 3 year (actually 2 year) extension for them to start Basic which is or has come to an end. And the program was 'suspended' AND defunded in 2016 during President Obama's administration, so if you want to place part of the blame on the politicians, please blame the correct ones.
The program was closed prior to President Trump even being elected, much less him taking office and the press tries to blame President Trump.
MAVNI program suspended and defunded as of 24 June 2016,
2016 Election held on 8 November 2016, and
Donald Trump takes office on 20 January 2017.

https://mavnicenter.com/assets/uploads/files/ [login to see] 75-mavni-amedd.pdf?v=cpqfaq656e2

SSG Robert Webster - I realize that some people think that everything revolves around President Trump - but if you read what I wrote, I said nothing about assigning blame to him - only to the United States government as a whole. Now, whoever is in charge is the one who should fix it, in my opinion.

President Trump IS NOT the United States. He is a representative of it. The United States is the entity I blame here, not President Trump.

As for the requirements you listed... if the people were not qualified for the program, then why would the recruiters bring them in to the program? Again, that's a failure on the part of the government. If they weren't qualified, they should have just said, "no." But, once we said "yes", we incurred that obligation.

And, if they didn't go to basic, due to background check delays, that is also not their issue. It's a problem on the part of the government. Unless there is something they did that was illegal or they lied about something, then we took them in and said "ok" to whatever their situation was. We made that obligation freely. We shouldn't go back on it - regardless of who is in charge.