On March 28, 2019, the Trump administration announced it would extend Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for one more year.

Liberian refugees fleeing Liberia’s civil war were first authorized to stay in the United States in 1991 under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through President George H.W. Bush. In 2007, President George W. Bush continued the protection of Liberians in the United States by implementing DED. Initially intended to last 18 months, extensions of DED continued for eligible Liberians until March 31, 2018 when the Trump administration decided DED was no longer necessary. The wind-down period was to last a year and DED would officially end on March 31, 2019.

Isabella Wreh-Fofana said she screamed with joy when she heard the news, and then proceeded to call everyone she knew. At the press conference planned in defense of DED, she stated, “I’m grateful for the extension, but we need a permanent solution.”

Furthering Isabella’s message, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman said:

“We can’t have families keep returning to this place of extreme stress and wondering what the future will hold. Liberians protected under DED need an opportunity to apply for permanent residency. We talk a lot about Minnesota values, and this is part of that. In Minnesota we care about our neighbors, and our Liberian neighbors are Minnesotans. We are going to continue to stand with them.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who has been a key figure in the support of a lawsuit by Liberians, said, “Making people ride this roller-coaster year after year is inhumane, hurts families and wreaks havoc on our economy and communities. It’s no way for any Minnesotan to live.” He went on to highlight how integral the Liberian community is in Minnesota’s healthcare system.

While DED status for Liberians is extended automatically through March 30, 2020, employment authorization (EAD) was only extended through September 27, 2019. Anyone who may continue working during all or part of the full 12 month DED extension needs to file a new I-765, and should see an immigration attorney.

Minnesota’s Liberian diaspora community is among the largest in the nation, if not the world.

Ending Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians will have a dramatic effect on Minnesota’s health care industry.

UPDATED May  13, 2019 – The Dream and Promise Act, introduced as H.R. 6 by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), and Reps. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) and Nydia M. Velazquez (D-NY), would protect Dreamers and recipients of Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure by providing them with a pathway to citizenship.

More than two million immigrants now live with the uncertainty of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), TPS (Temporary Protected Status), and DED (Deferred Enforced Departure), threatened with termination of status and deportation. Liberian DED status, previously scheduled to end at the end of March,  was extended at the last minute to 2020. While the administration has ordered an end to DACA and to protection for most TPS recipients, those orders are currently being challenged in courts across the country. All of the people living with DED,  TPS, and DACA need the protection of a pathway to citizenship, rather than the uncertainty and fear of short-term statuses and a constant quest for extensions.

Lenore Millibergity, acting executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) said:

“We need these immigrants. They have lived in the United States for decades, worked here, built homes and families here, and continue in so many ways to strengthen and enrich this country. Not only do we need their contributions: in fairness and justice, we owe them the protection of permanent legal residence and a path to citizenship.

“It’s time for Congress to act.”

No action has been taken on the Dream and Promise Act since its introduction and referral to committees. Congress needs to act now, rather than allowing these statuses to expire during the volatile 2020 election season.

 

The 9th Circuit said asylum seekers can appeal denial of credible fear determination. This will end up in Supreme Court.

At an investiture ceremony on January 17, 2019 Adam Yang was officially sworn in as a Ramsey County District Judge. He joins Judge Sophia Y. Vuelo and Judge P. Paul Yang as Minnesota’s third Hmong judge.

Yang is a former board member at ILCM. Before his election in November, Adam Yang served as a public defender in Hennepin County working in the Juvenile Justice Unit.

The ceremony began with “America the Beautiful” sung in three-part harmony by Neuchee, Mandy, and Jannie Chang. The opening remarks were given by The Honorable John H. Guthmann, Chief Judge, Second Judicial District. Comments were shared by Caryn Boisen, President of the Ramsey County Bar Association, and The Honorable Anne McKeig of the Minnesota Supreme Court, both of whom spoke of the strong feelings associated with “coming home.” McKeig noted, that home is “where our heart and soul always remain.”

“[Adam Yang] has the demeanor, he has the wisdom, he has the humanity, he has the people skills, and he understands the plight of those who come before the court,” said McKeig. “That itself is a gift to our legal community.”

Yang took his oath with two bibles, one in English and one in Hmong. His wife, Theresa, helped Yang into his robe and his daughter, Audrey held the bibles.

In his remarks, Yang echoed McKeig’s sentiment toward returning to the Second Judicial District. He said it is a “great place that echoes the voice of great judges past and present … I am home, in the place I started my legal profession.”

“I want people who come through my court … to know and feel that they’re being treated fairly,” he said. “That they are heard and respected.”

Yang ended his remarks by thanking his family and wife, “Behind a great man is a great woman. Behind a greater man is the greatest woman.”

March 8 2019—Nearly a million people live in the United States with the constant uncertainty of TPS, DED, and DACA status. While each is different in some details, all of these statuses provide temporary permission to live in the United States, with no path to permanent residence (green card) or citizenship. The Trump administration is trying to end all of these statuses. Some of its efforts have been delayed or stymied, in part, by lawsuits and court orders.

Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status for Liberians ends on March 27, by order of the Trump administration. When DED ends, they will lose their work permission, Minnesota driver’s licenses, and their permission to stay in the United States. They will be vulnerable to deportation—away from the lives, homes, and families they have built over the past two decades.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Nepal, and Honduras also face an end to their status. A federal judge enjoined DHS from terminating TPS status for residents of Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador. That gives more than 300,000 people a temporary reprieve for as long as the injunction lasts. TPS for Hondurans will end on January 5, 2020, and TPS for Nepal will end on June 14, 2019.  Some residents of South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen also have TPS, with varying dates for expiration or extension.

While the administration is unsympathetic to the plight of TPS holders already in the United States, it is considering extension of TPS to Venezuelans.

DACA holders and DREAMers saw the administration try to end their status back in 2017. The courts ordered that people who already had Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on or prior to September 5, 2017 could keep and extend their status, at least while litigation continues. No new DACA applications are allowed, which means that hundreds of thousands of DREAMers (immigrants who entered the United States without authorization as children) who had not yet been granted DACA status have no way forward.

According to the Miami Herald, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have introduced legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, and people with TPS and DED. Whatever the eventual fate of that legislation, it’s not going to pass in time to help Liberians with DED. They are in an even more precarious position, as DED status depends entirely on Trump: DED is a discretionary protection status enacted by the president.

DED holder Yatta Kiazolu, a PhD candidate at UCLA who has lived for 22 of her 28 years in the United States, testified at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on March 6. Her full testimony is available here. She said in part:

“25 days from now Liberian DED will end and my entire life will be interrupted. I have only visited Liberia once as a toddler and I have never lived in the country.

“I am here today to appeal to Congress to create a permanent solution on behalf of myself and the thousands of Liberians who have rebuilt their lives here in the United States. …

“I have been a recipient of both TPS and DED. If DACA had not been rescinded it is possible that I would have been a Dreamer, as well. The protection of these relief programs allowed me to maintain a stable and healthy life, despite living deadline to deadline. …

“Nothing I have accomplished thus far would be possible without the unwavering support of my family, who are here with me today. I am here because of the love and labor of my mother, grandmother, and aunties who, when I first arrived, were all working class Black immigrant women. They worked jobs that required them to stand on their feet for sometimes over 10 hours a day in order to protect me and offer me space to imagine, dream, and explore my world as a child should. Their resilience, hope, and lessons about goodwill inspire my graduate research about histories of Black women’s political activism . My grandmother used to say “When you do good, you don’t do it for yourself, you do it for God.”[pause] And with that philosophy as my personal mantra, though the majority of my family are now permanent residents and U.S. citizens, I am here for all the working class immigrants on DED, TPS, and are also DREAM-eligible. I am here for all young people like myself who have anxiety about their futures.

“If Congress allows DED to end in 25 days, I do not know what will happen to me.”

Yatta Kiazolu speaks not only for herself, but for nearly a million other immigrants whose lives depend on continuation of TPS, DED, and DACA—and ultimately, on what only Congress can do: creation of a path to citizenship for them.

You can call Congress and ask for a path to citizenship for Yatta and for all immigrants with TPS and DED and for all DREAMers.

The $150,000 fund will support legal representation for immigrants in deportation proceedings.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi issued directions to consider immigration and other collateral consequences in charging decisions.