WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say stricter Trump administration immigration policies have stymied Pentagon plans to restart a program that allowed thousands of people with critical medical or Asian and African language skills to join the military and become American citizens.
The decade-old program has been on hold since 2016 amid concerns that immigrant recruits were not being screened well enough, and security threats were slipping through the system.
Defense officials shored up the screening process, and planned to relaunch the program earlier this month.
But officials say there was an unexpected barrier when the Department of Homeland Security said it wouldn't be able to protect new immigrant recruits from being deported when their temporary visas expired after they signed a contract to join the military.
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
