Some U.S. Troops at U.S.-Mexico Border May Be Deported

The U.S. has a program to beef-up military enlistments. It’s called MAVNI (Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest). It allows non-citizens to enlist. As an inducement, it provides an expedited path to U.S. citizenship. The path is not automatic—there are specific requirements.
(In exchange for enlisting in the military for a total of 8 years' service, DOD promised MAVNI enlistees the right to apply for an expedited path to citizenship.)

Under President Trump’s direction, however, the Defense Department is no longer processing Form N-426. It certifies an enlistee’s military service and also checks boxes for MAVNI certification.

The administration cannot end MAVNI— it’s a creation of Congress. But effectively, Secretary of Defense Mattis has blocked the program. The Defense Department has added an extreme vetting element, patterned after the element that the Supreme Court eventually upheld in Trump v. Hawaii. To be clear, the Supreme Court found the “travel ban” constitutional only in its third version—a version that applied to people who had no contacts, past or present, to the U.S.

The MAVNI troops are serving the United States. It’s a big difference.

There is irony in this reneging of a promise to more than 10,000 foreign-born members of the U.S. armed forces: Some may be deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border to halt a caravan of migrants from entering the U.S.

For now, at least, a federal court has issued an injunction preventing any adverse treatment of MAVNI troops.

The court, in Kirwa v. Defense Department, noted: “Furthermore, every day of delay leaves plaintiffs in limbo and in fear of removal. Plaintiffs live in constant fear that they will lose their work or student visas, or be discharged, deported, and subject to harsh punishment in their country of origin for joining a foreign military.”

It is one thing to get tough on illegal immigration. It is another thing to restrict legal immigration. The treatment of MAVNI-eligible troops is a betrayal of a solemn promise made to men and women who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for American citizens in order, someday, to become American citizens. The court said the government failed to advance a single good reason for blocking the program.