For now, Army suspends discharges of immigrant recruits

MARTHA MENDOZA and GARANCE BURKE,Associated Press 4 hours ago

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FILE - In this July 3, 2018, file photo, a Pakistani recruit, 22, who was recently discharged from the U.S. Army, holds an American flag as he poses for a picture. The U.S. Army has stopped discharging immigrant recruits who enlisted seeking a path to citizenship - at least temporarily. A memo shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Aug. 8 and dated July 20 spells out orders to high-ranking Army officials to stop processing discharges of men and women who enlisted in the special immigrant program, effective immediately. (AP Photo/Mike Knaak, File)

The U.S. Army has stopped discharging immigrant recruits who enlisted seeking a path to citizenship — at least temporarily.

A memo shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday and dated July 20 spells out orders to high-ranking Army officials to stop processing discharges of men and women who enlisted in the special immigrant program, effective immediately.

It was not clear how many recruits were impacted by the action, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the memo.

"Effective immediately, you will suspend processing of all involuntary separation actions," read the memo signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Marshall Williams.

The disclosure comes one month after the AP reported that dozens of immigrant enlistees were being discharged or had their contracts cancelled. Some said they were given no reason for their discharge. Others said the Army informed them they'd been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them.

Early last month, the Pentagon said there had been no specific policy change and that background checks were ongoing. And in mid-July the Army reversed one discharge, for Brazilian reservist Lucas Calixto, 28, who had sued. Nonetheless, discharges of other immigrant enlistees continued. Attorneys sought to bring a class action lawsuit last week to offer protections to a broader group of reservists and recruits in the program, demanding that prior discharges be revoked and that further separations be halted.

A judge's order references the July 20 memo, and asks the Army to clarify how it impacts the discharge status of Calixto and other plaintiffs. As part of the memo, Williams also instructed Army officials to recommend whether the military should issue further guidance related to the program.

Margaret Stock, an Alaska-based immigration attorney and a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who helped create the immigrant recruitment program, said 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 go back and rescind the people who were improperly discharged."

Discharged recruits and reservists reached Wednesday said their discharges were still in place as far as they knew.

One Pakistani man caught by surprise by his discharge said he was filing for asylum. He asked that his name be withheld because he fears he might be forced to return to Pakistan, where he could face danger as a former U.S. Army enlistee.

The reversal comes as the Defense Department has attempted to strengthen security requirements for the program, through which historically immigrants vowed to risk their lives for the promise of U.S. citizenship.

President George W. Bush ordered "expedited naturalization" for immigrant soldiers after 9/11 in an effort to swell military ranks. Seven years later the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, known as MAVNI, became an official recruiting program.

It came under fire from conservatives when President Barack Obama added DACA recipients — young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children — to the list of eligible enlistees. In response, the military layered on additional security clearances for recruits to pass before heading to boot camp.

The Trump Administration added even more hurdles, creating a backlog within the Defense Department. Last fall, hundreds of recruits still in the enlistment process had their contracts canceled.

Government attorneys called the recruitment program an "elevated security risk" in another case involving 17 foreign-born military recruits who enlisted through the program but have not been able to clear additional security requirements. Some recruits had falsified their background records and were connected to state-sponsored intelligence agencies, the court filing 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. Nearly 110,000 members of the Armed Forces have gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/now-army-suspends-discharges-immigrant-recruits-044609723.html

In “closed meeting” Rep Kinzinger says farmers not irate over Trump trade policies

By Paul Westermeyer

Posted Aug 8, 2018 at 9:25 AM

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger attended a closed Livingston County Farm Bureau roundtable meeting Tuesday morning with area agriculturalists. After the meeting’s end, he fielded questions from the press about the meeting, one of the chief subject’s of which was the trade war the U.S. is currently engaged in with China and the detrimental effect it’s had on the trading price of soy.
Kinzinger, R-Channahon, told the media that while the mood of farmers was less than optimistic, he believed they were willing to give the Trump administration a chance to right wrongs the president believes China has committed in terms of unfair trade practices.
“A couple of the points I made in the meeting was that it seemed like, at the beginning, we were fixing to fight the whole world on this (trade war) issue — Canada, Mexico, Europe and China,” he said. “My biggest concern with these is that, if we’re going to fight unfair trading practices, let’s do it one at a time with different nations.
“The good news is that we appear to be closer to a deal with Mexico for a NAFTA renegotiation, which I think is going to drive Canada closer to our position, so we may get a NAFTA renegotiation.”
Kinzinger clarified that he had “very mixed feelings of where we are at.” On the one hand, he opposes tariffs as a roadblock for free trade and that their cavalier usage by President Donald Trump has hurt agricultural communities; however, he did align with Trump on wanting to correct trade imbalances that they believe has resulted from China’s alleged theft of intellectual property.
“There have been some massive abuses by China,” he said. “We understand that the Chinese may have taken aim at ag because these are the people that voted for Donald Trump, so we’ll see ... One of the good things is that the Europeans announced that they would buy more soy, but obviously Europe is ‘x’ population and China is four times that.”
The representative noted that while farmers were appreciative of the Trump administration’s promised $12 billion bailout being used to offset the tanking soy market, he was also aware that they had more of an interest in a long-term solution.
“I think people are grateful for that, but ag doesn’t want that,” he stated. “They ultimately don’t want a situation where they survive because the government’s writing checks. So in the short term, it’s a good thing, but the long-term hope is that since the Chinese economy is on the bubble in certain areas, we think, it would probably behoove them to instead of having all of their imports sanctioned, frankly, or tariffed, to actually come to the table and negotiate.
“We’re not asking for handouts from China; we’re asking that the Chinese be fair and quit stealing our intellectual property.”
Still, the mood among farmers, Kinzinger admitted, was not quite optimistic that the trade war would be resolved sooner before later. He had hopes, however, that other bartering avenues the U.S. was exploring could offset the damage done to the soy trading market.
“I think if we can get NAFTA done and if we can have this kind of detente with Europe, there will be some optimism from that,” he said. “What I’m sensing is that they trust this president and they believe in him. They’re nervous, but they’re willing to give him a little space.
“As of today, I’m not hearing a lot of people in the ag community irate, but if this goes on for a year or two, you might see them get irate, but the hope is that we can come to a deal and end all this.”

Above is from:   http://www.pontiacdailyleader.com/news/20180808/kinzinger-discusses-ag-trade-situation