48 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Poaching Rhinos and Other Iconic Wildlife As a result of cuts to all foreign assistance to the Republic of South Africa, as well as broader foreign assistance cuts, a program used to identify rhino horns, elephant ivory, and other trafficked wildlife products with airport x-ray scanners has been stopped, soon after successful interdictions in Angola and elsewhere. This will lead to continued poaching of iconic species and allow international criminal networks to thrive. Since traffickers are commodity agnostic, this withdrawal puts everyone’s security at risk and may allow for more drug, weapon, and human trafficking in the future. —State FSO Wore Two Hats, Got the Boot I am currently overseas with my tandem spouse on a DETO (domestic employee teleworking overseas) assignment. I wear two hats, working for my office in Washington, D.C., while also serving as an active member of our post community. I recently volunteered to serve in a leadership role to help organize our annual Independence Day Reception (IDR), at which we usually host more than 2,000 people. It’s a huge lift. And with my entire team located in D.C. and unconnected to post, I stood to gain nothing from volunteering except the satisfaction of helping the embassy community. Meanwhile, my entire office in D.C. was eliminated. I was RIFed, and I lost access to systems. I spent hours trying to figure out how I would lead my IDR team using only my personal device and without access to any of our files, because I still wanted the IDR to be a success. I did not want to let the embassy down, so I continued to coordinate the event as best I could. I still wanted the IDR to be a success, and it was. And in return? The department blocked me from being paneled into my onward assignment (scheduled to start in August) and gave me the boot instead, for no reason except that I was in the “wrong” assignment in May. I wish the department would show their FSOs the same courtesy and respect that we show the department. —State FSO Human Fallout In the wake of USAID’s dismantling and the abrupt termination of Foreign Service officer assignments abroad, many Foreign Service families have been bilked out of thousands of dollars in legal and travel costs related to the expedited naturalization process under INA Section 319(b). We qualified when we applied. But due to premature repatriation, we were later deemed ineligible. The government changed the terms. And yet the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has refused to acknowledge the circumstances or offer recourse. This story has gone largely unnoticed, but it carries serious human, legal, and political implications. Our assignments ended not by choice but because of an illegal RIF. Still, USCIS denied our expedited applications, even when we presented compelling evidence or sought congressional intervention. My spouse and I served in Nicaragua under increasingly difficult conditions, including surveillance and phone tapping. And now, after risking our well-being in service of the United States, we are not only being denied something as basic as the citizenship path we earned—we are being denied justice. We have lost more than money. We’ve lost time, legal status opportunities, job prospects for our spouses, and the ability to travel. We’ve endured stress, instability, and a stunning lack of support from USAID or any other government entity. Most of us received no guidance on next steps. No accountability. No empathy. This is the cruelest part: We were asked to serve our country, and now we’re being punished for it. This is not a bureaucratic hiccup—it’s systemic neglect. And no one is talking about it. We are not just statistics. We are the human fallout of a broken system—and we’re ready to be heard. —Jared O. Bell, PhD USAID FSO Wrong Place, Wrong Time I am a 9-plus-year veteran of the Foreign Service and have served in South Asia, Europe, and Washington, D.C. I was en route to support efforts in Ukraine when a health concern arose 12 months ago, requiring me to temporarily relocate stateside. I secured a domestic assignment supporting infrastructure abroad, ensuring that our people and facilities are safe, secure, and functional.
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