[size=16pt]US Army extends immigrant recruiting[/size]
Pilot program seeks to boost the ranks of language and healthcare specialists by offering citizenship.

By Alexandra Zavis and Andrew Becker
May 4, 2009

The lanky 19-year-old from South Korea has lived in the Southland since he was 9 years old. He is as comfortable speaking English as his native Korean. And he desperately wants to join the Army.

Late last week, the teenager walked into a recruiting office in an Eagle Rock mall wearing a pendant shaped like a dog tag around his neck. Until recently, local recruiters would have had to turn him away. His student visa would not have qualified him to enlist. Only citizens or permanent residents who carry green cards were eligible to serve.

But starting today, 10 Los Angeles-area Army recruiting offices will begin taking applications from some foreigners who are here on temporary visas or who have been granted asylum.

In all, the pilot program, which was launched in New York in February, seeks to enlist 1,000 military recruits with special language and medical skills, most of whom will join the Army. Response to the program has exceeded expectations, drawing applications from more than 7,000 people around the country, many of them highly educated, defense officials said.

Those who are accepted will get an expedited path to citizenship in return for their service. "Ever since I entered high school, I was waiting for this opportunity," Jason, the 19-year-old aspiring soldier, told recruiters as they helped him prepare documents to submit today. "As soon as it came, I just jumped."

The Army requested that applicants' full names not be used because, in some cases, it could put them or family members at risk in their home countries.

Although the Army has been meeting or exceeding its recruiting goals, defense officials say there is a shortage of soldiers with medical, foreign language and cultural abilities needed in the war on terror and peacekeeping efforts around the world.

"What we're looking for are critical, vital skills," said Naomi Verdugo, assistant deputy for recruiting in the office of the assistant secretary of the Army.

The Army hopes to enlist 333 healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses and others. It is also looking for 557 people with any of 35 languages, [size=14pt]including Arabic and Yoruba, spoken in West Africa.[/size] Spanish is not on the list. An additional 110 slots are earmarked for other services, which have not yet started taking applications for the program.

Although the effort is limited in scope, it has raised concerns among some veterans groups and advocates for tighter immigration controls. They question whether the policy shift could pave the way for large numbers of foreigners, including ones who might have entered the U.S. illegally, to join the armed services.

"By aggressively recruiting foreigners abroad, or illegal immigrants who could use such a program to get legalized, we could easily create a situation where the Pentagon comes to rely on cheap foreign labor," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

"That's not where we are now. . . . But we always need to be careful that we don't start going down a steep, slippery slope."

Defense officials emphasize that the program is only open to foreigners who have lived legally in the U.S. for at least two years, including students, some professionals and refugees.

Those who enlist are required to meet the same physical and conduct standards as other recruits and exceed the educational standards. They are also vetted by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and they will not be granted waivers for any criminal offenses.

Foreign-born residents have a long history in the U.S. armed forces.

Under a wartime statute invoked in 2002, those who serve can apply for citizenship on the first day of active duty. Naturalization fees are waived. About 29,000 people with green cards are in the military and about 8,000 enlist each year, according to Pentagon figures.

Recruiters have already signed up 105 people with targeted languages and two medical professionals under the new program.

More than 60% of those enlisting under the pilot program have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with roughly 7% of those joining the Army through regular channels.

Their average score on a required math and verbal aptitude test is 79 out of a possible 99 points. That's compared with 62 for the average citizen or permanent resident who enlisted in the Army in the 12 months ending in September.

As word of the New York pilot program spread, many people traveled across the country to apply.

The 107 enlisted so far include 13 California residents, officials said. Less than half came from the New York area, including New Jersey.

Jason was among those who traveled to New York. But he arrived so tired after an overnight flight that he failed to score the minimum 50 points on a sample aptitude test.

By extending the program to Los Angeles, Army officials hope to make it easier for applicants on the West Coast to be considered and to ease the pressure on New York recruiters.

They also want to reach a broader range of language experts. So far, most of the recruits have been Korean, Indian and Chinese language speakers. The Army needs more people with languages used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, among others. Only four of the recruits enlisted as Arabic speakers, one speaks Urdu and one speaks Punjabi.

Staff Sgt. Joshua Cannon, who commands the recruiting station where Jason is applying, is pleased to be able to sign up more aspiring Americans. The policy restricting applications to people with green cards has been a source of frustration to local recruiters, who have struggled for years to find qualified applicants in a city with many immigrants, especially when the country is at war.

Cannon said his office had been getting calls about the new program for months. For most of the callers, the biggest draw is the chance to become citizens in as little as six months, he said. The normal naturalization process can take five to 15 years.

To retain their citizenship, participants must honorably complete at least five years of service.

When Jason heard he could apply closer to home, he headed straight over. This time he scored a respectable 67 on the sample aptitude test.

After 10 years of living with the uncertainty of temporary visas, he too is hoping to finally become an American.

His mother, who raised two children alone, never bothered to apply for green cards for the family, so now he faces the possibility of being summoned back to South Korea for mandatory military service.

Jason is also looking for a way to complete his studies at Pasadena City College.

His mother's grocery store is struggling, so he had to defer for two semesters after his first year to help keep the business going. Although his mother worries that Jason could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, he will not be dissuaded.

"I would have to go to the army in Korea anyway, so let's make it count for something," he said. "A new life. A new beginning."

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

abecker@cironline.org

This story was reported and written in collaboration with the Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, a nonprofit news organization. Andrew Becker is a CIR staff reporter. Alexandra Zavis is a Times staff writer.

Source : http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigrant-recruits4-2009may04,0,5078748,full.story

RSA:

Yes xenophobia wont stop,as long as people with no other skills exept their hand flock to South Africa,they will compete with the country's poor,unskilled,uneducated locals and they will start fighting for resources,services,jobs and to some extend woman.

By uplifting Africa I was refering to African pride,South Africa will do it by becoming a first fully developed nation(and we are not far) in Africa.And this will encourage others to follow in her footstep.

Yes this will happen because of whites,and we love it.If you remember ANC never fought to take over whites and ship them to Europe,we fought for equal rights,we wanted whites to remain in the country,and play a meaningfull role to better the life of our people.Thank God we have visionary leaders,who thinks in 100 years.

Currently there is nothing good comming out of Africa,except South Africa.We don't need you to be in our country to be inspired.Africans must stop treating their leaders like kings,gone are the days of kings and queens,if you think Yrdua is not delivering?tell him to resign.Until your people possess those powers then your country and the rest of the continent will remain a dark continent and SA the only light and might even ask for special EU membership.

Currently there is nothing good comming out of Africa, except South Africa? What a one-sided almost colonial view! FYI Mbeki is not the first African president to step down. Nyerere did the same in Tanzania in 1985 if I'm not mistaken.

And are unskilled immigrants in South Africa only to be found among blacks?

Listen my friend, Africa is the continent of the black man. And as long as the black man is a 2nd class citizen like in South Africa you really can't boast that much. I certainly appreciate the vision of Mandela to create good racial relations and uplift the black South Africans. Let's hope that vision will be executed well and bring its intended results.

RSA:

When Jesus said he was a messiah people didn't belief him and some still don't belief but I am telling you RSA is going to raise black pride from where ever its been hiding itself and show it to the whole world,In the dark continent the sun is rising from the south and soon the whole Africa will be bright again.

Hohoo, not when you are xenophobic towards the same people you intend to "uplift"

jemit:

i'm surprised that everyone is happy that Thabo Mbeki has resigned

he has been a good president and a good leader, he has been loyal to south africa, africa and more importantly ANC. jacob zuma has used his influence and power to make this happen.

mbeki has very good intentions and is a great leader though some of his local policies have not worked out well. his administration has made the south african economy bouyant and his foreign policies are great.

unfortunately for him the south african masses don't like him, i guess because of his educational background and mayb his 'supposed' social class. they seem to prefer Zuma, who is more social and is a friend to everybody.

i hope this political instability in SA will not affect their hosting of the World cup2010, remember the western countries are looking for a way to get that right from africa.

i just wish mbeki well in his future endeavours and hope that Zuma or any next president will be a better president.

and definitely SA is a more democratic nation than nigeria, come-on, they were colonizes by the americans what do u expect.

Jemit,

It was found out that Mbeki is behind the charges against corruption and rape facing Zuma now. Mbeki was engineering this case to keep Zuma from contesting presidential post. ANC, being a reputable party it is, was not going to swallow this so Mbeki had to face the music.

Poor Mbeki. If he thinks Zuma is not presidential material he should perhaps have left him alone, or find other ways of making him look silly.

Angelheart:

Carmelilly said: 'dream on. with all that xenophobia puhleeez'
I will waste my bandwitch by getting involved in a dialogue with you when you answer these questions:

What is xenophobia?
What is racism?
What effects does xenophobia and racism have on a countries'economy?
What is the difference between xenophobia and racism?
Is America not ONE of the racist countries in the world?
Who are the major investors in SA?? Can you name any African countries?
Is there Xenophobia in Nigeria and is the Naira doing well??

Hello Angel,

Before I comment on Xenophobia I have one issue. Why is Mbeki resigning before the election of his successor? I hear there's pressure from ANC that he resigns and leave the country to interim government. But why has ANC chosen to pressurize him into resigning before elections?

And on Xenophobia, well I live in Tanzania and your ambassador here was put on a hot seat regarding killings of other Africans in South Africa. What he said was that these other Africans were seen as a threat to the well being of black South Africans. he cited one example of Somali traders who would set shops in black neighbourhoods and sell stuff for much cheaper that black South Africans operating nearby would do thus taking most of the customers. This made them angry and thus attacked the foreigner.

Well, if that's the way to go then I bet no South African would be allowed to set shop in any other African country. The Chinese might get massacred all over the world I guess.

[quote ]100 million on facebook!!!!! and it didn't exist 2 years ago? why is everyone on it? air your views.
[quote][/quote]

Dude get your facts right. FB has been there since 1998. Back then it was little known and was catering mainly to US audience. It has been reborn recently though (proly 2 years ago as you say) and launched into global scene.

One thing I don't understand is why should Mbeki resign before the election?
Why not stay till election is over, winner is declared and then hand over power smoothly?

No honour among thieves huh [even if they don't know each other yet ]
And when it comes to scamming, the buck apparently stops in Nigeria.

Full story:  http://www.nypost.com/seven/09192008/news/regionalnews/nigeria_nut_outscams_stox_crook_129828.htm

One reason for having a high proportion of average to ugly chicks in the US could be the fact that hot chicks seldom do well in school. They are constantly getting hit on since puberty so it takes tremendous effort for them to study well and achieve excellence required for studying abroad.

One good thing I know about Ghana chicks is that they are very accomodating of foreigners, and somewhat disdainful of fellow Ghanaians. But then again that can probably be true for many girls in other parts of Africa.

Do a search for Ghana girls on www.hi5.com and you can decide for yourself if they are hot or not. I did that first time in Ghana and ended with two pretty chicks to keep me company during my stay there.