WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2020) US immigrants who enlisted in the US military because they were promised American citizenship after completing their obligations with honorable discharges, only to have the promises overturned by the Trump administration, filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department over the policy reversal, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a press release on Friday.
"[The plaintiffs] represent a class of thousands of people in uniform. They are challenging a 2017 Trump administration policy change that deprives non-citizen service members of the expedited path to citizenship guaranteed by Congress and earned through honorable military service. In the year following the policy's implementation, the government reported a 72-percent drop in military service members' naturalization applications from pre-policy levels," the release said.
Six service members named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue the policy is unlawful, violating Congress' clear command that any non-citizen who has served honorably in the US military during a period of armed conflict may naturalize, regardless of their immigration status or length of residence in the United States, the release said.
As a result of the Trump administration policy, non-citizen service members face heightened risks overseas due to, for instance, lack of access to consular services and protection typically available to citizen counterparts. The plaintiffs in the case include long-time permanent residents and one DACA recipient, and are currently serving at various bases domestically and abroad, the release added.
Non-citizen enlistment is integral to maintaining military recruitment numbers. In nearly every recruitment year between 2002 and 2013, the Army would have failed its recruitment goals for its active duty force were it not for non-citizen enlistments, according to the release.
