NPR

Pentagon Considers Canceling Program That Recruits Immigrant Soldiers

The deal the military made with thousands of noncitizen recruits with specialized skills: Sign up and we'll put you on the fast track to citizenship.
The recruitment program began in 2009 to attract immigrants with medical or language skills, such as surgeons or Arabic speakers. / DELIL SOULEIMAN / Getty Images

The Pentagon is considering pulling out of a deal it made with thousands of noncitizen recruits with specialized skills: Join the military and we'll put you on the fast track to citizenship.

The proposal to dismantle the program would cancel enlistment contracts for many of the foreign-born recruits, leaving about 1,000 of them without legal protection from deportation.

The plan under consideration is laid out in a memo from Pentagon officials to Defense Secretary James Mattis. In the memo, obtained by NPR, high-level personnel and intelligence officials cite security

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