November 21, 2019
The military needs immigrants. The Trump administration wants to keep them out.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is now the latest in a line of immigrants challenged about whether it’s truly possible for them to serve the United States as patriots.
Vindman, a refugee who fled the Soviet Union as a 3-year-old, has been casually accused of espionage and dual loyalty as he’s offered testimony in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. Republicans picked up those themes again on Tuesday, asking about an offer Vindman received from a top Ukrainian official — which may have been a joke — to become Ukraine’s defense minister. The White House dedicated its morning tweets to questioning his character and judgment. At their heart, such comments call into question the bargain many immigrants in uniform make with the United States military: that their service will be valued because they chose to serve, even because of their birth certificate, not despite it.
Over time, the United States has slowly made it easier for immigrants to serve and to naturalize expeditiously while serving, to our benefit. The Trump administration, though, has reversed any such progress, diminishing the meaning of service — with far-reaching impacts on the force going forward.
Read the full article in The Washington Post.
More from CNAS
-
Women in Combat: Five-Year Status Update
Commentary
It has been five years since the ban on women in combat was lifted in 2015 and women began integrating previously closed combat arms billets in January 2016. Five years is the...
By Emma Moore
-
VA must improve access to high-quality care for transgender veterans
Commentary
Nearly two years ago, I argued that then-incoming VA Secretary Robert Wilkie should expand care to transgender veterans, removing the exclusion of gender confirmation surgery ...
By Kayla M. Williams
-
Sharper: Global Coronavirus Response
Commentary
As regions across the United States enforce states of emergency and a growing list of countries restrict travel, close schools, and quarantine citizens, the economic and human...
By Chris Estep & Cole Stevens
-
Veteran Benefits in the DMV Metro Area
Commentary
In the post-9/11 era, a “sea of goodwill” made up of organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors has formed to support veterans, service members, their familie...
By Nathalie Grogan
