Lauren Wallace

31 March 2016
English 1102-013
Argument

Citizenship for Soldiers

About one percent of the population in the United States of America are serving in the
Armed Forces. Being affiliated with the military is not only very rewarding but the most patriotic
thing you can do for your country. When you get passed the physical benefits the military offers,
there are the financial aspects as well. The military offers benefits for education, healthcare, and
housing that can be passed onto spouses and children. The military also offers nonresidents of
the United States to receive full citizenship by enlisting. The U.S. military is the only employer
that allows the access to expedited citizenship, even without having a green card (MAVNI). Even
if you do not have a green card there is a program that bypasses the whole process and a Soldier
will receive their citizenship within six months of enlistment. A Soldier going through the
MAVNI program must serve a minimum of either three years active duty or six years reserves
(MAVNI). On average it cost one individual almost seven hundred dollars to become a citizen in
the United States (. Now, you dont just hand over the money, they snap a quick headshot and
boom you are a citizen. It takes at the minimum a year or two to receive your citizenship. If you
enlist and already have your green card it is for lack of a better term, easier, to get in to the
military. Without the green card, for the Army, there are extra requirements an individual must
meet before signing the papers. The process is done through the military program called, Military

Accessions Vital to the National Interest, or most commonly referred to as MAVNI. Located
from the United States Army website, there are special requirements nonresidents must have
accomplished before enlisting and shipping out to Basic Combat Training. The individual
applying for the MAVNI program must have resided in the United States for a minimum of two
years, must have a high school diploma, qualify on the ASVAB, and be between the ages of 1734 and 35 before leaving for basic. This program allows noncitizens to become members of the
United States Armed Forces in return for full citizenships and benefits. The biggest advantage to
having all these people from all over the world is the diversity. People from different
backgrounds, different cultures and languages. That is what the military needs right now. When
we go overseas or into other countries we want to be able to build that relationship by having a
strong understanding of their languages and cultures. Less than twenty five percent of the
population of the United States knows how to speak more than one language (One in Five).
The MAVNI program offers jobs specifically in the health care and language fields. These jobs
are so essential to the growth and sustainment of our military.
There are two individuals who I personally know and talked to about their processes of
enlistment and becoming a citizen. During basic training, one of my battle buddies had gone
through the process of receiving her citizenship. Recently shes been promoted, and has switched
her status from Army Reserves to active duty. She reclassed and is waiting at her training site in
Virginia to be shipped off to Alaska. She is from the Philippines and came here to the United
States with her family. She had family members who had joined and just felt a calling to serve
this country. She wasn't born here but wanted to join the one percent in keeping this great
country safe. She started her process in 2014. Since she already obtained a green card her process
was a little easier. She did everything I had to do when I went through the enlistment process,

except she had more rank than me because of the fact of where she was from their education
system started earlier than in the United States. She was a year ahead of me in school even
though we were the same age. She speaks fluently in Tagalog and English. She is one of the few
people I still keep in touch with from training. On graduation day she received her citizenship
with another Soldier who was from Kenya. I was not aware of this at the time but the Soldier
from Kenya had actually gone through the MAVNI program to enlist. Currently, my
grandmothers caretaker who was born and raised in Nigeria has started the process of becoming
a Soldier through the MAVNI program. She is just in the first stage which is meeting with a
recruiter, explaining the process, going through all the paper work, and taking the ASVAB. The
difference with going through the MAVNI program is that you must score higher than a fifty on
the ASVAB then the actual minimum of a thirty one.
These are just two of the many stories of Soldiers from different countries wanting to
serve and sacrifice everything for a country they were not even born in, and thats something
ninety nine percent of this country cannot say. With what has been going on with our country
from our history of terrorist attacks, racism and this years election, I am greatly concerned with
the continuation of these programs the military has to offer for nonresidents. Some people do not
agree with these programs and after 9/11 there was a great reluctance with keeping them and or
creating more restrictions to enlist. Well guess what? This country would not be where it is today
without immigrants. This country could not function without diversity, which includes people of
different backgrounds, races, cultures, languages, and religions. With this election coming up, I
am seriously scared. The cringe worthy amount of Donald Trump supporters has me worried
about not just my own, but most importantly our countrys future. Donald Trump is destructive
and the definition of ignorance. His views, especially on foreign and domestic policies, have

spread faster than the black plague and glorified by the media. Everything he stands for go
against everything this country stands for. Our military would not be as powerful as it is without
these programs and the prolonging of programs like the MAVNI allows this country to
relentlessly be the greatest.

Work Cited
"How to Become a U.S. Citizen" CitizenPath. 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"How Much Does It Cost to Apply for US Citizenship?" US Immigration Blog RSS.
American Immigration Center Inc., 2016. Web. 1 April 2016.
"MAVNI." Goarmy.com. United States Army, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"Naturalization Through Military Service." USCIS. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"One in Five U.S. Residents Speaks Foreign Language at Home." Center for Immigration
Studies. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.