Immigrant doctors want to help the Army fight the coronavirus. The Pentagon won’t let them.

Dozens of immigrant physicians who enlisted through a Pentagon program meant to harness their medical skills are stuck taking out trash and filing paperwork, an immigration attorney said, even as the military mobilizes doctors to fight the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Six recruits with relevant training — a pulmonary specialist, an epidemiologist and two internal medicine practitioners, among others — are frustrated that the glacial pace of security checks has slowed their chance to serve at a crucial moment, they told The Washington Post.

The inertia comes as the force’s growing need for medical professionals becomes clearer — and more urgent. More than 200 military medical students and nurses will receive diplomas early, officials said Thursday, and officials have braced for a surge in demand in military hospitals.

Read the full article and more in The Washington Post.