Immigrant soldier sues for citizenship after getting booted out of the Army

Yea Ji Sea served four and a half years in the U.S. Army before being discharged e because of her immigraiton status.

YEA JI SEA was so highly respected by her supervisors in the U.S. Army that one of them wrote she "volunteers for deployments willing to die for a country she loves... I would trust her with my life and (she) deserves citizenship more than most."

But Sea, 29, who has lived in the U.S. since she was a child and who served for more than four years in the Army and won two medals, was discharged Friday (Aug. 3) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. Sea lives in fear that she will be deported at any moment.

“Right now I’m just worried about if I should take a flight home or drive home. I don’t know what’s safer,” Sea told the San Antonio Express, explaining that she wants to avoid ICE, which has detained other discharged soldiers, as she heads to Los Angeles. “I’ve been trying to think of the safest route to go back home. I’m going to give myself a couple of more days to think about it."

Donald Trump's heartless "zero tolerance" policy towards refugee families applying for asylum appears to be extended towards all undocumented immigrants, even if they have not committed a crime. That includes noncitizen immigrants who thought serving in the military would be a route to citizenship.

Sea's application for citizenship, filed nearly two years ago, has apparently not been acted upon. She hasn't even been granted an interview.

Without citizenship, this veteran who served her adopted country honorably, could be arrested and deported.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California filed a lawsuit July 17 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to force the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue a decision on her citizenship application. 

The lawsuit charges that the delay in the application decision is in violation of the landmark Administrative Procedure Act that requires the government to process applications "within a reasonable time." A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14 in federal district court."Specialist Sea has honorably served in the U.S. Army for over four years and was promised U.S. citizenship in exchange for her service," said Sameer Ahmed, staff attorney at the ACLU SoCal. "The government should make good on its promise instead of unfairly discharging her from the Army and subjecting her to arrest, detention, and deportation by ICE."

Sea was 9-years old when she was brought to this country from South Korea by her parents in 1998. She grew up in the Los Angeles area, enlisted in the Army in 2013 under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program that allows recruitment of non-citizens who have skills critical to the needs of the U.S. military, including physicians, nurses, and experts in certain foreign languages. Sea can speak Korean and qualified as a healthcare specialist.

She had a variety of postings during her time in the Army. While stationed in South Korea, Sea served as an ambulance aid driver and was the only pharmacy technician for the entire Camp Casey Combined Troop Station that served more than 1,800 soldiers. In her off hours, she served as a translator for doctors and helped care for injured soldiers.

Sea, stationed most recently at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, earned two Army Achievement Medals "for exceptionally meritorious service." The medal certificate for her service in the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Manchu Battalion), cites her "dedication to duty, selfless service and outstanding performance." It goes on to say, "Her actions reflect great credit upon herself, the Manchu Battalion and the United State Army." On September 1, 2015 she was promoted to specialist.

The MAVNI program required inductees to apply for U.S. citizenship upon entering the military. Sea willingly applied, but unbeknownst to her, the owner of the school through which she had previously received a student visa had been working with a corrupt immigration agent to create false forms for visa applications. (The school owner was later convicted and sent to prison).

“The fraud was actually perpetrated by the corrupt CBP officer,” Sameer Ahmed, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, told The Washington Post. “She had no idea there was this . . . document that was put in her student visa application. No one told her.” The immigration agent pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in prison.

Department of Defense officials ended the MAVNI program last year on the basis of potential threats to national security by troops in the program, even though a study by military contractor RAND was skeptical, saying it was “unable to estimate the specific security risk” by those in it. RAND called for a modest expansion of the program.During Sea’s interview then about her citizenship application, she nervously stated that a date on a false form drawn up for her by the immigration agent was accurate though it was not. Because of this mistake, her initial citizenship application was denied. But she was permitted to reapply after demonstrating, for at least one year, "good moral character."

Sea did just that, reapplying on July 26, 2016, almost exactly two years ago. Because the obtainment of her student visa status was challenged, she also applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status based on the fact that she was brought to the U.S. before her 16th birthday. But the DACA application has also not been processed by the government.

Without citizenship or DACA, she could be arrested and deported by the country she served honorably.

Read the lawsuit filed on behalf of Sea, here: https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/aclu_socal_sea_v_dhs_20180719_complaint.pdf

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She had been bracing for the bad news. It landed last month.

U.S. Army Spec. Yea Ji Sea, a medic at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, was called in to her commander’s office. The senior officer explained to the 29-year-old that her time in uniform was over. He said he was sorry, Sea would later recall. He promised she still had the military’s support. But for now, Sea was being honorably discharged because of her immigration status.

Born in South Korea, Sea had come to the United States on a visitor’s visa in 1998, when she was 9. At 26, she joined the Army, hoping to tap a program allowing active-duty service members to earn their U.S. citizenship. But Sea’s naturalization application had been stymied throughout her decorated 4½ years as a soldier. Now she was out.

Absorbing the news, Sea was initially optimistic that her chosen career in the service would not be cut short. Since her first hours of basic training, the Army had drilled into Sea ideas about service and duty, placing the Army and country first. As she explained to The Washington Post this week, Sea figured the loyalty ran both ways — the Army would fix this.

“I wasn’t so worried,” she explained. “I thought I really had their support when they said that. I thought it was going to be somehow okay, that they wouldn’t kick me out because it’s just not right, and it’s legally wrong. I believed them because I was stupid.”

That optimism has drained away.

Following the news of her discharge, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in July on the specialist’s behalf against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The federal complaint argues that U.S. officials have improperly failed to process her rightful naturalization application. The complaint asks a judge to force the government to rule on her application within 20 days.

Her attorney maintains that Sea’s situation syncs with a wider pattern of booting immigrant service members from the military because of President Trump’s hard-line immigration policy.

“They’re trying to discharge her now, and it’s part of a larger anti-immigration scheme of the Trump administration,” Sameer Ahmed, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, told The Post.

Sea’s situation has reached a critical point. Her honorable discharge is scheduled to take effect Friday. Without valid immigration status, she will be unable to work and subject to deportation. On Friday, she could end up leaving the base in federal custody.

“My biggest fear right now is my commander calling ICE,” she told The Post as she packed up her home at the base in Texas. “I’ve been unofficially warned that ICE might come to pick me up. After 4½ years, once I get my discharge papers, my reality is ICE might come pick me up.”

Neither the DHS nor USCIS responded immediately to a request for comment.

According to her lawsuit, between January 1998 and March 2008, Sea remained in the United States on a visitor visa and an investor visa as a dependent. In March 2008, she filed paperwork to apply for an F-1 student visa, which was granted in October 2008.

The possibility of obtaining her U.S. citizenship is what drew her to the Army.

By Sea’s account, in her early 20s, she was rudderless, floating around with little idea about what she wanted to do with her life. Then she learned about the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, or MAVNI. Under the program, noncitizens “lawfully present” in the country are able to enlist in the military and work for their citizenship. As the recipient of an F-1 visa and a native Korean speaker, she qualified.

“I figured I’d join, work for it, get my citizenship and have a chance at a normal life,” Sea said.

She enlisted in October 2013. Because she comes from a nonmilitary background, the decision shocked her friends and family. Basic training delivered its own surprises for the recruit. The grueling physical training, being surrounded by mostly male cohorts, the Army’s discipline and codes — it was an adjustment.

“You definitely learn to be part of a whole new culture. It’s a different way of life, and they shape you to it,” she said. “Coming out, I felt like a badass.”

When she hit active duty, she flourished. An Army health-care specialist, she first did stints at bases in Oklahoma and Texas before shipping out to Camp Casey in South Korea in August 2014. Overseas, she worked as an ambulance aid driver and pharmacy technician, providing health care to hundreds of fellow soldiers. Sea’s work earned her a promotion and two Army Achievement Medals, according to her legal complaint.

“SPC Sea has the drive and professionalism needed to bring the U.S. Army to new heights,” a supervisor wrote in a character assessment. “She represents the best that the Army has to offer: a smart, agile young leader capable of handling immense challenges with marked success.”

But there was an unforeseen problem hidden in her immigration visa that would upset her bid for citizenship.

Under MAVNI, service members are required to apply for naturalization as soon as they receive an honorable service designation. Sea submitted her first application in February 2014. That’s when investigators discovered the issue. In 2008, Sea had obtained her F-1 student visa from an institution called the Neo-America Language School.

Unbeknown to Sea, the school’s owner at the time was working with a corrupt U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent to rubber-stamp visas for bribes. In 2013, federal immigration officials were indicted in connection with the scheme. Sea had no idea the visas were fraudulent — the school was listed as an approved program by ICE, the legal complaint stated — and she believed that her paperwork was legitimate. In reality, a date was off in the application about when she entered the country.

“The fraud was actually perpetrated by the corrupt CBP officer,” Sameer Ahmed, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, told The Washington Post. “She had no idea there was this . . . document that was put in her student visa application. No one told her.” The officer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in prison.

But officials flagged the visa tied to the fraudulent school when she applied for naturalization in 2014. In an interview with officials, Sea “stated that she had never given false information to any U.S. government official while applying for any immigration benefits,” her lawsuit argues. She maintained that the document was accurate, “even though it was not,” her complaint says.

Recognizing the inaccuracy, the government rejected her first naturalization bid because she had not established herself as a person of “good moral character.” Under the regulations, she had to wait another year, until July 2016, to reapply. In January 2017, she also applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But she has received no answer on either request.

She hoped to pursue a career in the service, but the wait left her in limbo. Sea continued to perform her duties but also worked toward advancing her military credentials. She looked into both a physician assistant program and medical school, but neither was realistic with her citizenship unsettled. Sea also pursued two degrees — one in pre-med and the other in Spanish — while waiting for her naturalization to go through. She also applied to enter noncommissioned officer classes, but she was dropped each time because of her status.

Sea said she was dropped from the last officer class the day before she was called in to her commander’s office and told she was being discharged.

The Army is using her alien status as justification for her exit from the ranks. Service members in the same situation have been discharged throughout the past year. The Associated Press reported that at least 40 MAVNI participants have recently been discharged or have had their status put on hold.

“They knew about the student visa at least since 2014, and she’s been honorably serving the military since then,” Ahmed said. “Throughout the entire time, they never sought to discharge her. They’re claiming now the reason for discharging her is based on her being an alien, which makes no sense. Everyone in the MAVNI program is an alien.”

Regardless of the MAVNI program, under DACA, Sea still would be eligible for continued service, her attorney argued.

“There’s no reason to discharge her now. She’s eligible now. She could keep serving.”

As she hurries her life into boxes in Texas, Sea is facing the reality of her predicament. A military career, serving the Army as a doctor, earning her citizenship — all that could be out the window, she said. “It’s never going to happen. I was still hoping last week that someone would listen. No one seems to be listening.”