Military Accessions Vital to National Interest

Last updated

Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) was a recruitment program by the United States Department of Defense, through which legal non-immigrants (not citizens or legal permanent residents of USA) with certain critical skills are recruited into the US armed forces. [1] Certain health care professionals and experts in certain languages relevant to the US military (e.g. Pashto and Persian, due to the War in Afghanistan) meet eligibility requirements for recruitment through this program. [2] Soldiers belonging to the enlisted rank, and recruited through this program, become citizens of the United States, usually at the end of their Basic Combat Training (BCT).

Contents

History

MAVNI was spearheaded by immigration attorney Margaret Stock, a former U.S. Army Reserve officer and West Point professor. [3] The program started in 2008 under the George W. Bush administration as a one-year pilot program with a cap of 1000 recruits.[ citation needed ] The program was suspended following the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and a revision of Army vetting procedures, before being resumed in 2012 with the new vetting procedure. [4] In October 2014, people belonging to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) category became possibly eligible for the MAVNI program. [5] In December 2014, the program was extended until 2016 with a raised cap of 5000 recruits. [1] Enlistments are permitted for both active-duty and reserve assignments, but not in the National Guard.

As of December 2016, MAVNI is under review and closed indefinitely to new recruits. [6] Several lawsuits happened due to the Defense Department allegedly attempting to pressure out existing MAVNI service members, including outright discharging 40 members in July 2018 for failing new background checks. [4] These new background checks were criticized as being shoddy and relying on trivial information such as a MAVNI member having parents living in a foreign country as a reason to reject the check due to "foreign ties". [4] The softer methods included an "administrative discharge" of simply not sending soldiers to required training or giving them new contracts. [4] This process of discharging MAVNI members itself was suspended on July 20, 2018, one month later. [7] [8] A related legal dispute ended in February 2019 with U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of the Western District of Washington ordering the Defense Department to stop unequal treatment of soldiers in the program, such as by forcing them to submit to "continuous monitoring" background checks without any case-by-case reason, when other soldiers are not subject to similar restrictions. [9] MAVNI's sudden suspension left over 4,000 immigrant recruits in limbo. [10] As of 2023, many of the MAVNI recruits are still waiting in limbo. [11]

Impact

The MAVNI program has several notable recruiting successes; for example, the program enlisted Haseeb Mohammed, the U.S. Army Soldier of the Year for 2022 and Augustus Maiyo, the winner of the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon. [12] It also enlisted world class athletes like Paul Chelimo, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist at 5000 meters and many others. [13] MAVNI recruits of the Army have a lower attrition rate than other recruits, [14] and many hold higher educational credentials than other enlistees. Around 30% of MAVNI recruits were assigned to Special Operations units due to their language abilities, which facilitate operations in territories with few English speakers. [15] Several MAVNI recruits have written about their experiences in the program. [16]

With the suspension of MAVNI, the US Defense Department has weakened its requirements on would-be native citizens in an attempt to fill up missing headcount, such as allowing more waivers for people with criminal backgrounds or histories of illegal drug use to join the military. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green card</span> Lawful permanent residency in the United States

A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023, there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders, of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens. Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conscription in the United States</span> History of mandatory military service in the United States

In the United States, military conscription, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the U.S. federal government in six conflicts: the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The fourth incarnation of the draft came into being in 1940, through the Selective Training and Service Act; this was the country's first peacetime draft.

A K-1 visa is a visa issued to the fiancé or fiancée of a United States citizen to enter the United States. A K-1 visa requires a foreigner to marry his or her U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days of entry, or depart the United States. Once the couple marries, the foreign citizen can adjust status to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Although a K-1 visa is legally classified as a non-immigrant visa, it usually leads to important immigration benefits and is therefore often processed by the Immigrant Visa section of United States embassies and consulates worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DREAM Act</span> American legislative proposal on immigration

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as minors—and, if they later satisfy further qualifications, they would attain permanent residency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conscription in Taiwan</span> Overview of conscription in Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), maintains an active conscription system in accordance with the regulations set by the government of the Republic of China. All qualified male citizens of military age in the country are obligated to perform 1 year on active duty military service or receive 4 months of military training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal immigration to the United States</span> Immigration to the United States in violation of US law

Foreign nationals, known as aliens, violate US immigration laws by entering the United States unlawfully, or by lawfully entering but then remaining after the expiration of their visas, parole or temporary protected status. Illegal immigration has been a matter of intense debate in the United States since the 1980s.

The Lodge–Philbin Act was a U.S. federal law, passed on 30 June 1950, which allowed for the recruiting of foreign nationals into a military force fighting under the command of the U.S. Armed Forces. The Act permitted initially up to 2,500 non-resident aliens to enlist. If they successfully served five years with an honorable discharge, they were guaranteed U.S. citizenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conscription in Israel</span> Overview of conscription in the State of Israel

Since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, fixed-term military service has been compulsory in Israel. The draft laws of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) only apply to Jews, Druze, and Circassians. Because the Druze and Circassian communities are less populous, their women are exempted from mandatory military service altogether. Women from the Jewish community are not exempted, but serve for slightly shorter terms than their male counterparts. The IDF does not conscript non-Druze Arab citizens of Israel, though their men and women may enlist voluntarily.

The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration, introduced into the United States House of Representatives. Its supporters claim it would toughen border security, increase enforcement of and criminal penalties for illegal immigration, and establish an employment verification system to identify illegal aliens working in the United States. It would also establish new programs for both illegal aliens and new immigrant workers to achieve legal citizenship. Critics allege that the bill would turn law enforcement agencies into social welfare agencies as it would not allow CBP to detain illegal immigrants that are eligible for Z-visas and would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens with very few restrictions.

Asian Americans, who are Americans of Asian descent, have fought and served on behalf of the United States since the American Revolutionary War. During the American Civil War Asian Americans fought for both the Union and the Confederacy. Afterwards Asian Americans served primarily in the U.S. Navy until the Philippine–American War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizenship of the United States</span> Legal status in the U.S.

Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, such as freedom of expression, due process, the rights to vote, live and work in the United States, and to receive federal assistance.

Sikhs and Sikh Americans have served in the United States military since World War I through all subsequent wars. Since the 1980s, observant Sikhs have faced difficulty in serving due to a discontinuation of exemptions to uniform standards which previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their religiously mandated beards and turbans while in uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recruit Educational Center</span>

The Recruit Educational Center was a program started by the US War Department in May 1919 at Camp Upton. It provided language instruction and military training for non-English-speaking and illiterate military inductees. The Recruit Educational Center claimed a widened social role for the U.S. Armed Forces during peacetime. It also intervened in the era's virulent debates over eugenics, national identity, and the place of immigrants in American society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</span> United States immigration policy that protects certain undocumented immigrants

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy. It allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the country as children at least five years earlier, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for an employment authorization document.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps</span> US military program

The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military bases across the world. The program was originally created as part of the National Defense Act of 1916 and later expanded under the 1964 ROTC Vitalization Act.

The Armed Forces Immigration Adjustment Act 1991, also known as the Six and Six Program, was enacted on October 1, 1991. The Act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzo Gamboa</span> Filipino-American barred from Australia

Lorenzo Abrogar Gamboa was a Filipino-American man who was excluded from Australia under the White Australia policy, despite having an Australian wife and children. His treatment sparked an international incident with the Philippines.

Federal policy oversees and regulates immigration to the United States and citizenship of the United States. The United States Congress has authority over immigration policy in the United States, and it delegates enforcement to the Department of Homeland Security. Historically, the United States went through a period of loose immigration policy in the early-19th century followed by a period of strict immigration policy in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Policy areas related to the immigration process include visa policy, asylum policy, and naturalization policy. Policy areas related to illegal immigration include deferral policy and removal policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Dream and Promise Act</span> 2021 United States legislative bill

The American Dream and Promise Act is a proposed United States law that would incorporate the provisions of the DACA program into federal law. Up to 4.4 million DREAMers would be eligible for Conditional Permanent Residence or Temporary Protected Status. The bill is a reintroduced version of a bill by the same name that was passed in the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress, but was never taken up by the Senate. The provisions of the bill granting pathways to permanent residence are less expansive than the US Citizenship Act of 2021, however, Democrats have indicated they are more likely to progress this bill, along with the accompanying Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 since it is more likely to receive the 10 Republican votes needed in the United States Senate.

References

  1. 1 2 "Military accessions vital to national interest (MAVNI) program eligibility" (PDF). Department of Defense . November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  2. ↑ Stock, Margaret D. (2012). Immigration Law & the Military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard. American Immigration Lawyers Association. pp. 17–19. ISBN   978-1-57370-317-8.
  3. ↑ "Margaret Stock". MacArthur Foundation . 25 September 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Romo, Vanessa (9 July 2018). "U.S. Army Is Discharging Immigrant Recruits Who Were Promised Citizenship". NPR . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Military enlistment program for immigrants with special skills put on hold, creating frustration". Fox News. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Broadcast Message 1611-10 Upcoming PDSO DSO and RO ARO Annual Verification" (PDF). U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement . 2 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Chappell, Bill (9 August 2018). "U.S. Army Stops Discharging Immigrant Recruits Seeking Citizenship". NPR. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "DOD Temporarily Suspends Separation Actions to Members in MAVNI Program". American Immigration Lawyers Association . 20 July 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Gonzales, Richard (2 February 2019). "Judge Orders Pentagon To Stop Discriminating Against Naturalized Citizen Soldiers". NPR. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "Thousands of immigrants joined the U.S. military as a path to citizenship. Now, their lives are in limbo". NPR. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "In Limbo For Years: The US Military Recruited Non-Citizens, But Hasn't Allowed Them To Serve". NPR. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Hipps, Tim (1 November 2012). "Maiyo Wins Marine Corps Marathon, Leads All-Army to Victory". Fort Drum Mountaineer. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Siskind, Gregory (4 August 2016). "Immigrants of the Day: Rio Olympics Edition – The Track and Field Team". Immigration Law & Policy. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  14. ↑ Horton, Alex (8 July 2017). "How the Pentagon ending its deal with immigrant recruits could hurt the military". The Washington Post . Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Tyson, Ann. "Immigrants Race to Enlist in U.S. Military". Scout.com . Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Sharma, Umesh (13 May 2011). "Not the War Umesh Sharma Expected". Harvard Ed.Magazine . Retrieved 29 December 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.