The Navy has reportedly warned that it could miss its recruiting goals because of the amount of time green card holders have been waiting in order to be screened for background checks before joining the military.

Navy officials called the issue regarding the backlog of potential recruits "untenable," according to a document reviewed by The Washington Post.

Officials added that the situation brings “increasing risk of mission failure.”

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The Post reported that the document states that the average wait time for a green card holder to join the U.S. military has ballooned to 354 days. In contrast, the average wait time for U.S. citizens is 168 days.

The wait time presents the chance that the Naval force could miss its recruiting goals, the newspaper added.

In part due to warnings by the military and as well as a judge's injunction last month, the Pentagon has issued new directives that will send thousands of green card holders to recruit training, the Post reported.

It also mandates that each armed service comply with the announcement immediately.

The move came in response to a preliminary injunction issued in November by District Court Judge Jon Tigar. Tigar ruled that the Pentagon had not satisfactorily explained why new screening adopted by the Trump administration in 2017 was needed.

A military official who requested anonymity told the Post that the Navy has over 2,870 green card holders that are waiting to head to recruit training.