Sunday, April 8, 2018

SUNDAY READ: The long strange journey of Xilong Zhu - student, soldier, deportee

XILONG ZHU PHOTO
Xilong Zhu upon completion of U.S. Army basic training.

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! Let me get this straight: The Department of Homeland Security creates a phony university to enroll foreign students seeking student visas, then arrests them for fraud and being in the U.S. illegally?

Isn't that entrapment? Isn't that illegal?  Isn't that shady? At the very least, that's a questionable practice.


The saga of Xilong Zhu, one of those students who didn't know the University of Northern Virginia where he enrolled was actually a government-created trap, gets more complicated. His story is an example of the crazy lengths that DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will go to in order to deport, deport, deport.

ICE appears to have ignored a directive from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to prevent the deportation of noncitizen troops and veterans, seeking to remove Zhu, a Chinese immigrant, despite laws that allow veterans with honorable service to naturalize, according to the Washington Post.


How Zhu got in his predicament is a strange, bureaucratic odyssey. He came to the U.S. in 2009 with a student visa to attend school. After he graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin in 2013, like many foreign students, he wanted to become a U.S. citizen. 

He decided to enlist in the U.S. Army through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program that trades expedited citizenship for language and medical skills in short supply among U.S.-born recruits. As a Mandarin-speaking volunteer, Zhu was a prime candidate for the program.

Unfortunately, out of fear of the MAVNI program being infiltrated by terrorists, the program was temporarily shelved at the time Zhu tried to enlist in 2013, so he needed a way to keep his legal status in the U.S.. 


U.S. Quickly, a company that provides education consultation to immigrants, told him that the University of Northern New Jersey was approved by DHS to authorize "curricular practical training," a type of school credit for his work at Apple as a customer support technician. It sounded perfect for Zhu's need.

He enrolled in the fake school, paying the $8,000 tuition with undercover agents posing as university administrators, and the school website promised "an exceptional educational experience."


"Nobody knew the school was fake," said Margaret Stock, Zhu's attorney,  including Zhu, who said it would be "suicide" to knowingly attend a fake school given that he would soon be screened by government agencies, including DHS.


In the meantime, the MAVNI program was reinstated for the U.S. military. Zhu signed up and successfully completed his basic training.

However, ICE reportedly asked the Army to release him for alleged visa fraud. The Army protested to no avail. Zhou was detained and honorably discharged in November of 2016.

He was released after three weeks and is currently waiting for a Seattle judge to issue a ruling on his removal proceedings, according to the Post.

“Xilong Zhu, a citizen and national of China, was admitted to the U.S. as an F-1 nonimmigrant student in August 2013, but failed to maintain or comply with the conditions of his nonimmigrant status. As a result, on Nov. 10, 2016, ICE issued him a notice to appear in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act. His immigration proceedings are ongoing," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.


Under normal administrations, Zhu's status should mean that he can proceed with citizenship. Laws in place since World War I say noncitizens who leave the military under "honorable conditions" are eligible for naturalization.

“Anyone with an honorable discharge … will not be subject to any kind of deportation,” Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon in February, describing exceptions for those who commit a “serious felony.”

"They're ignoring what Mattis said," Stock said.

ICE, apparently feeling its oats because of Trump's continuous anti-immigrant positions, statements and tweets, interpreted Mattis statement to refer to the 900-plus military personnel who are part of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA), not the 10,000 who were part of the MAVNI program.

The Pentagon punted when asked for clarification on Mattis' remarks. Spokesman Maj. David Eastern simply referred to the February statement.

Meanwhile, Zhu awaits deportation proceedings and fears how he'll be received in China if the U.S. deports him.

A former State Department official told The Post that any Chinese-born men or women who joins the U.S. military may face harsh confinement and interrogation if they are deported back to China.

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