The U.S. Army has reinstated more than 30 recruits it discharged from a program created to fill high-demand positions in exchange for a fast track to citizenship, according to federal court documents filed on Monday.
But the reinstatement is only temporary.
In an email sent to NPR, Maj. Carla Gleason, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said that the Army has temporarily suspended the process of discharging immigrant recruits. She claims, “in order to conduct a review” of its practices.
However, the reversal comes immediately following the discovery of a memo of a change in policy where the Pentagon said there had been no change.
Discharged reservist, Brazilian Lucas Calixto, 28, who had sued, caught the eye of attorneys prompting talks of a class action lawsuit against the Army. A judge’s order referenced the memo from July 20 and requested the Army clarify the impact of the discharge status of Calixto and other plaintiffs.
As part of the memo, Williams, the original signer of the discharge policy, also instructed Army officials to recommend whether the military should issue further guidance related to the program.
Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney and a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who helped create the immigrant recruitment program, said on Wednesday the memo proves there was a policy.
“It’s an admission by the Army that they’ve improperly discharged hundreds of soldiers,” she said. “The next step should be to go back and rescind the people who were improperly discharged.”
The reinstatements also follow an Associated Press story in early July that revealed dozens of immigrant enlistees were being discharged from the military or had their contracts cancelled.
Some of the recruits weren’t given a reason for their discharge. Others said the Army informed them they’d been pegged as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them.
The enlistees joined under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, known as (MAVNI), to increase the number of soldiers with critical language or medical skills.
Linden H. St. Clair, who serves as an adviser on matters relating to military accessions and retention to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army, stated: “As of Aug. 17, 32 reservists had been brought back into active duty and another six, who had yet to enter training, have had their discharges revoked. And another 149 discharges have been suspended and are under review.”
