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Over the course of 12 months, the U.S. Army discharged more than 500 immigrant enlistees who were recruited across the globe for their language or medical skills and promised a fast track to their service, The Associated Press has found.
The decade-old Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest Recruitment program was put in place in 2016 amid concerns that immigrant recruits were not being screened sufficiently. The Army began booting out those last year without explanation.
The AP has interviewed more than a dozen recruits from such countries as Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, China and Mongolia who said they have been devastated by their respective regions.
Until now, it has been unclear how many have been discharged and for what reason because the Army has refused to discuss specific cases. But the Army's own list, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last month, says 502 service members who enlisted under MAVNI were discharged between July 2017 and July 2018.
The list, which was unsealed this week after a request from the AP, offers "refuses to enlist" as the reason for expelling two-thirds of the recruits. That is the reason given for 35 percent of army-wide discharges, according to a research study posted on a Defense Department website.
But at least one of those things was said that it was not accurate.
Badamsereejid Gansukh, dont recruiter told him his Turkish language skills would be an asset to the military, said he did not know he was discharged long.
"I never said I refuse to enlist, not at all," Gansukh said. In fact, he said, he had opted for another year after getting a call from his recruiter.
Upon learning he was discharged, "I just broke down," the Minnesota State University graduate said.
The Defense Department said it would not be a case of individual cases.
Twenty-two percent of the discharged immigrants were told their entry-level performance and conduct was subpar, which Pentagon spokeswoman Carla Gleason said. Ten percent – or 48 service members – were listed as being discharged because of an unfavorable security screening. This can include having a good time in a country.
There were three discharges for apathy or personal problems, two for having an encounter with police after enlisting.
Two "declined to ship" to boot camp, the list said, and two enlistees were discharged with the explanation "unknown," which the Defense Department said it could not explain.
The names of the service members and other personal information were redacted from the list to protect their privacy.
All the enlistees had committed to active duty or reserves; many had been regularly recruiting and training with their recruiters in preparation for boot camp while awaiting security clearances.
If a recruit has not started active duty, the US Army and National Guard Army have "the authority to separate the individual and terminate the contract, whether at the applicant's request or at the government's convenience," Army spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said in a statement Wednesday.
Margaret Stock, an immigration and national security law expert who helped create the MAVNI program, said the Army is not giving up their legal right to appeal.
"They are trying to get rid of people," she said.
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. The vast majority goes into the Army, but some of the other military branches.
Gansukh, a first-generation immigrant from Mongolia, said he would have hoped to be a part of something larger than he would have enlisted, and believed he would be an honorable way to seek citizenship in his new country.
"Now I feel like I was really targeted in a way," he said. "I feel isolated from the rest of the people who are living here."
Other recruits discharged this year are also devastated.
"Panshu Zhao said this summer after learning he was getting kicked out. The Chinese immigrant is a PhD student at Texas A & M.
As the snowballed boxes, some began suing.
In response to the litigation, the army has been stopped and recreated at least three dozen recruits who had been thrown out of the service.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters late last month that he supports the MAVNI program.
"We need and want every qualified patriot willing to serve and be able to serve," Mattis said.
Mendoza and Burke reported from San Francisco.
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