After more than 250,000 Salvadorans, Haitians and Nicaraguans have lost their protected status under this administration, it appears that Liberians are the next.
In 1991, when the West African country was in the grip of civil war, some Liberians living in the US were given “temporary protected status” to allow them to remain in safety.
Then in 1999 approximately 10,000 of them were made eligible for “deferred enforced departure,” or DED, by then president Bill Clinton, allowing them to continue to build new lives.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had periodically renewed the DED status, but Trump has now decided to allow it to expire, deeming Liberia safe for return.
Trump has taken a tough stance on immigration in general and, in reported private conversations, an even tougher stance on Africans from what he has reportedly deemed “shithole countries.”
The latest grace period expires on March 31, but Trump said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that he would accord the Liberians a 12-month “wind-down” period to prepare their departure.
“Through consultation with appropriate executive departments and agencies and my advisors, I have been informed that conditions in Liberia have improved. Liberia is no longer experiencing armed conflict and has made significant progress in restoring stability and democratic governance”, Trump argued.
However, in reaction to this move, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, noted on Twitter that, thanks to the previous presidents’ DED extensions, the Liberians had been living in the United States legally since 1992.
“Many work in Minnesota hospitals and nursing homes, I won’t give up this fight. We have a year”, she wrote.
(AFP)
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