The most recent barrier to immigrants being able to join the US military is a change of the rules that took place in October, which temporarily halted the recruitment of non-citizens to the National Guard and Reserve. Critics say the move to ban holders of green cards from joining the US military is unprecedented in American history.
In the fall, the Department of Defense announced that immigrant enlistees would have to wait longer to gain US citizenship and continued to suspend a program enabling the holders of US visas who have special skills to enlist in the US military. The majority of those who enlist need to already have legal permanent residency in the US, otherwise referred to as a green card.
During the George W Bush administration, a program was developed to enable US visa holders who did not have or were not eligible to get a green card to still be able to join the US military if they possessed medical training or particular language skills. MAVNI, the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest Program, was created to fill necessary positions in the military but was suspended in 2016 under the Obama administration.
In October, retired rear admiral, Anthony M Kurta, signed three memos, which, critics say, created hurdles for the enlistment of immigrants. Kurta was then the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary, forcing background checks on new immigrant recruits, which resulted in a halt to all such recruitments as no such check methods currently exist.