RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, National Public Radio (NPR) is among the outlets highlighting the issue of U.S. Military is discharging and deporting immigrant recruits who were promised citizenship; and
WHEREAS, the United States has a long history of immigrants serving in the military, beginning with the Revolutionary War; and
WHEREAS, according to USA Today approximately 5,000 foreign born recruits join the military each year, and approximately 511,000 veterans who are immigrants live in the United States, making up approximately three percent (3%) of the total veteran population; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago has longstanding commitments to its veteran and immigrant populations; and
WHEREAS, for example, the City has established the City of Chicago's Veterans Resource Office, designed to serve as a one-stop clearing house designed to provide assistance for better living and health services to veterans of the United States armed forces and their surviving spouses; and
WHEREAS, with respect to immigration the City of Chicago has adopted a Welcoming City Ordinance, recognized the use of matricula consular cards, and created a Legal Defense Fund; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago has endeavored to ensure the equal treatment and dignity of veterans and immigrants; and
WHEREAS, until recently the U.S. Military has welcomed non-citizens among their ranks, in World War I nearly a quarter of the men sent to fight in Europe were foreign born; and
WHEREAS, in 2008 the Pentagon established the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program for this purpose; and
WHEREAS, through the MANVI program, foreign born recruits who were already in the United States on a legal basis could serve in the military in exchange for an expedited path to citizenship, in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); and
WHEREAS, over 10,000 recruits have been through the MANVI program, with some attaining citizenship by the end of their training; and
WHEREAS, ...
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