I was 17 years old when I came to the United States from India to attend college at Trinity University in 2011.
I had a fairly unusual upbringing because of my dad’s job as an Indian diplomat. I traveled regularly and grew up in Germany, Kuwait, and India. I moved every three years or so, and had to say goodbye to friends I knew I would probably never see again. The upside of this was getting to experience different cultures and interact with peers from diverse backgrounds.
Because of this nomadic lifestyle, I never found a place I could truly call home until I came to San Antonio, the city I have lived in the longest over my lifetime – about six years.
I had some wonderful experiences through college, both academic and social. I performed undergraduate research under a couple of great professors every summer, joined a fraternity and a professional organization for engineers. I found myself with a degree of autonomy I had never had before, not just in the sense that I didn’t have my parents hovering over me; I also had the freedom to do things and pursue opportunities I would not have been able to in India.
I made lifelong friends, and during my senior year I met a girl who has been awesome enough to keep me around to this day. These are the things for which I am most grateful. San Antonio was a great setting for my growth, and I have seen the city itself grow since 2011.
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering science, with minors in mathematics, physics, and business administration in May 2015. A few months later, I found out about the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI), a limited program that allows non-citizens to join the U.S. armed forces, with an opportunity for early citizenship. I contacted a recruiter, went through the academic, physical, and language tests to meet the program requirements and enlisted as an active-duty recruit in the U.S. Army on Feb. 4, 2016. Placed in the Delayed Entry Program, I was told I would ship out to basic training and enter active duty in September 2016 after background checks that would take about six months.
I enlisted for three reasons:
- I saw it as my duty to repay the U.S., the country that had welcomed me so warmly. I couldn’t think of a better way to do this than serving in the U.S. military.
- I wanted to forge a career in the private aerospace sector, as space tourism and asteroid mining have appealed to me since I was a child. In college, I learned one has to be a U.S. citizen and have security clearance to work as an engineer for organizations in this sector and that military service is viewed as favorable.
- As an Indian citizen, with the current backlog, it would have taken me a couple of decades to get legal permanent resident status if I had gone the H-1B route and gotten an employer to sponsor me. With the MAVNI program I would have been naturalized at the end of basic training.
But I didn’t ship to basic training in 2016 – or 2017. My ship date was postponed three times because of extra vetting to which many MAVNI recruits became subject.
Finally on June 11, 2018, my recruiting station’s center leader informed me that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) had found “substantial derogatory information” in my background and that I was not eligible for continued service. The (DOD) did not tell him what this information was. When I contacted the person in charge of the Army’s MAVNI program at Fort Knox, he said he did not know what the derogatory information was and informed me that there was no appeal process.
I can only hope this is some kind of mixup, because I cannot imagine what this information could be. I believe I have the right to at least know why I am being discharged after living in limbo for two-and-a-half years, not being authorized to work legally, not knowing what would happen with my immigration status, and now not knowing if I will be deported from the country I love and have signed up to serve. I have filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Defense Department’s Consolidated Adjudication Facility and the Army Intelligence & Security Command seeking the release of my background reports, but have not yet received a response.
I’m not sure what my path forward is; I sacrificed some of my immigration options when I enlisted through MAVNI. I’m trying to find paths that would allow me to stay here legally. The only other option would be to leave the country and probably never be able to return.
So sad to read about this experience for someone who is trying to do the right thing.
Suggest getting an attorney to resolve.
US Government does not care about us. They need us, they said welcome to sign a contract. Now they don’t want to offer us citizenship, they just kick you out. Once we go back own countries, we can not get any visa of US, because we have immigration intent, you are right, we will never return. People who have served US Army but got discharged with no reasonable reason may be considered as “spy” when they return to their own countries. They will have such reasonable reasons to fail their background check in their own countries. But anyway, US government doesn’t care.
So many government agencies are unorganized and non-transparent. It is frustrating every time I encounter a “Catch-22” type situation with the government, because I would like to see it function better so I can be proud of it.
Fake news. Legal immigrants have been, and still are, able to serve in the military. I know I did! Illegals cannot, because their status is a criminal one. It’s not a race/religion thing, it’s a loyalty to country thing! I would love to have you get in line, do it right, and serve. Hell, I’d buy you a beer when you graduated basic training. But until then, I’m going to chalk this one up as propaganda.
This, unfortunately, is not fake news. If you review the MAVNI program, it is only available for individuals legally in the US on a valid, non-immigrant visa. MAVNI is specifically recruiting people who are already legally in the US as students, specialists in their field, investors, business owners, researchers, among other professions, and have already passed extensive background checks and screening to have their current US visa. Your dislike of the information doesn’t make it untrue.
Did you READ this story? Clearly, he said he wanted to become a citizen, he is not one YET, he has to rely on work permits. He clearly states he is trying to find ways to stay legally. I wish him the best and hope he can stay.
He is an educated person who clearly can do more than mow your yard, not that there is ANYTHING wrong with this. Do you mow your own lawn?
Get over it Jose, this is the land of the free and home of the brave!!!!! Remember?
With a name like Jose, how did your family get here? Mine were immigrants. My grandfather came here to escape Musollini and his fascist government. Thank God it was during a kinder time in the US. Kindness, what a concept.
This is not fake news. Yes, legal immigrants aka permanent residents (with green cards) can serve in the US military. This story does not suggest anywhere that this is not true. And thank you for your service to our country.
This individual was not an “illegal.” He was here in the US legally with a student visa to attend Trinity University. Like other international students with F1 student visas, he was eligible to have optional practical training upon graduation which is a continuation of the F1 student visa status. At the time that he signed up for the MAVNI program, he was in legal status. The MAVNI program only was available to persons in legal nonimmigrant, temporary visa status. The Department of Defense set up the program so that it could attract individuals with language capabilities or job skills in medical fields –its ongoing recruitment of permanent residents and US citizens was not coming up with such individuals.
India needs you.
What a profoundly ignorant comment.
Could I talk to you on behalf of VOA? I’d love to hear what you find with the FOIA. Please contact my email address provided. Thanks!