Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis is revamping a program that fast-tracks recruits born overseas to gain US citizenship in return for serving in the military as doctors, language experts, and nurses. Mattis announced the MAVNI (Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest) program on Friday. The program was halted in 2016, after the Pentagon concluded that it lacked proper safeguards to prevent possible threats from the inside, according to the Military Times.
Mattis told reporters that steps were being taken to save the program, if possible. Over 10,000 recruits have gone into the military via the MAVNI program since 2009, the paper says. MAVNI program supporters claim that it enables the military to enlist legal immigrants who have crucial skills, including proficiency with foreign languages. But critics argue that the military was vulnerable because of the lack of proper screening for the program.
Potential security risks were found in the MAVNI program by investigators with the Defense Department after an investigation spanning a year, according to an exclusive report from Fox News in August. Sources said that problems included the enrollment of too many soldiers before completion of their background checks, as well as the use of the program to hire workers lacking the specialist skills intended to be exploited by MAVNI.
Recruits will now be forced to have their background check completed before they are shipped off to basic training. The news shows that the Pentagon no longer plans to kill the program outright.