The Associated Press (AP) reported this on July 6th:

AP NewsBreak: US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits

by Martha Mendoza and Garance Burke

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Some immigrant U.S. Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged, the Associated Press has learned.

The AP was unable to quantify how many men and women who enlisted through the special recruitment program have been booted from the Army, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who have been discharged or whose status has become questionable, jeopardizing their futures.

“It was my dream to serve in the military,” said reservist Lucas Calixto, a Brazilian immigrant who filed a lawsuit against the Army last week. “Since this country has been so good to me, I thought it was the least I could do to give back to my adopted country and serve in the United States military.”

Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them.

The article, of course, was trumpeted near and far by the exclusive elements of the LDAMM because, after all, it’s their job. Check their job descriptions.

There’s just one problem. The AP was wrong. They conveniently left just a few things out of that article. I couldn’t imagine why.

China, Pakistan and Iran. Those were the countries of greatest concern. Odd how, now, when Mexico is in the crosshairs, none of the soldiers in question were from Mexico. NONE. This is the sound of my forehead being slapped.

Wait. What does China, Pakistan and Iran have in common? Oh yeah. Countries wishing the destruction of the US. Perhaps it was in this fashion that concern was raised?

There was this from the WashingtonExaminer.com:

AP’s report on Army immigrant discharges looks highly misleading

by Becket Adams

The Associated Press reported this week that the U.S. Army is “quietly discharging immigrant recruits.” It sounded quite awful. But it was more misleading than anything else.

The report stated initially that the Army “has moved in recent weeks to discharge immigrant recruits and reservists who enlisted through a program that promised them a path to citizenship. Some of these service members say they weren’t told why they were being discharged. Others say the Army told them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because their background checks were pending.”

The intended takeaway was that the president and his immigration hardliners have gone so far as to target even immigrants who’ve joined the U.S. armed forces via the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, or MAVNI.

Uh oh. Could it get down to individuals? And as I have said weekly, “but wait, there’s more”?

It doesn’t appear to be that cut and dried. The AP report leaves out an explanation of what the hell is actually happening.

First, it’s a full seven paragraphs before the reader is informed that the AP article is about applicants who’ve only enlisted, but never even started basic training. It’s a bit of a stretch to use the word “discharged” for people who’ve only applied and then failed the prerequisite background check. You can’t be fired from a job for which you were never hired.

Of course. Sins of commission. In this case, sins of omission. One and the same.

Second, it’s unclear just how many MAVNI applicants have been given the boot. The AP claims there are at least 40 cases, but considering that more than 10,000 noncitizens joined or signed contracts between 2009 and 2017, the number 40 suggests this may yet not be a plot to target immigrant recruits.

But the most damning paragraph of all?

Third, there’s the fact that the MAVNI program was effectively shut down in 2016 over security concerns. All new recruitment was halted, which put a select group of applicants in a curious “bureaucratic limbo,” according to Military.com’s Richard Sisk.

“The beginning of the end for MAVNI came in the form of a September 2016 memo to the service secretaries from Peter Levine, then the acting under secretary for personnel and readiness,” Sisk reported in April.

2016. Wait. President Trump wasn’t President Trump. Who? Oh yeah. Barack Hussein Obama. President.

But the most damning — yet quite careful — paragraph is below.

This really is the biggest problem. As readers, we’re told something is wrong, but we’re never really given the full context. We’re not told whether this is a new policy implemented by the current administration or whether the rejections are the consequence of the 2016 MAVNI security enhancements. For what it’s worth, a Pentagon spokesperson said Friday that the AP has “mischaracterized” its handling of the MAVNI recruits, adding further that there has been “no change in policy.”

Please allow me to brutally translate: the AP knew precisely what it was doing when it published the article. I knew precisely that it was jam-gepacked with half truths and omissions. But it published the article anyway. It had to have gone through a writing process, an editing process and then final approval. It was approved anyway. This was no “accident,” no “oopsie,” no “damn, how did we miss that” kind of situation.

This was purposeful.

The American Media Maggots continue to deserve that appellation week after week, day after day.

BZ