The Associated Press has found that the U.S. Army discharged more than 500 immigrant enlistees over the course of 12 months who were recruited for their language or medical skills and promised a fast track to citizenship in exchange for their service.
The recruiting program was put on hold in 2016 amid concerns that recruits were not being screened sufficiently, and the Army began booting out those enlistees last year.
It had been unclear how many were discharged and why, but the Army's own list says 502 members enlisted under the program were discharged between July 2017 and July 2018.
"Refuse to enlist" was listed as the most common reason, but at least one recruit who was told he was discharged for that reason said it was not accurate.
