Omar Sobhani / Reuters
High-ranking U.S. Army officials have been ordered to immediately stop discharging immigrant recruits who enlisted to seek a path to citizenship—at least for the time being. A memo shared with the Associated Press dated July 20 spells out orders to stop processing discharges of men and women who enlisted in the special immigrant program. “Effective immediately, you will suspend processing of all involuntary separation actions,” read the memo signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Marshall Williams. Last month, it was reported that immigrant recruits were being quietly discharged, with some service members saying they didn’t get told why they were dismissed. The AP reports it’s unclear how many recruits were affected by the action, but lawyers previously said they knew of at least 40.