News > Immigration In The United States

Temporary Protected Status expires May 21 for Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone; July 22 for Haiti

Posted on May 05 2017

The U.S. government will not extend Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The TPS status granted because of the past Ebola outbreak will terminate on May 21. That means thousands of people from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone must leave the United States unless they have acquired a different immigration status.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allows people from certain countries to remain in the United States and to get temporary work permits due to an emergency situation in their home countries. The Secretary of Homeland Security issues the TPS determination, and can renew or terminate the status. As John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, explained in a 2016 MinnPost interview:

“Well, think of TPS as this magic protection that happens because of circumstances that occur in your home country. If you happen to be outside of your country and in the U.S. when a massive earthquake hits, like in Haiti, the U.S. is saying, it would be inhumane to send Haitians back to a country that has been destroyed. So, any Haitians in the U.S. on the date of the hurricane, will now be protected.”

Currently, TPS applies to 13 countries. That status will end for Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone on May 21.

Haitian TPS will end on July 22. Haitian TPS was granted after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which has still not rebuilt and recovered from the earthquake.

Haiti was also hit by Hurricane Matthew last October, and by a cholera epidemic attributed to UN peacekeepers that began in 2010. The cholera epidemic has killed nearly 10,000 people and infected more than 770,000 Haitians.

However, on April 20, an internal memorandum signaled that the Trump administration may refuse to renew Haitian TPS. According to Al Jazeera:

“]T]he acting director of US Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS), a Department of Homeland Security agency, recommended that the status not be renewed in an internal letter, USA Today reported last week.

“In the letter, James McCament, the USCIS acting director, concluded that while Haiti has not completely recovered from the earthquake, it was stable enough to end the status, the news organisation reported.

“John Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, will make the final determination. He had not made a decision as of April 21, a spokesperson told Al Jazeera English.”

Time is running out for TPS holders from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. On April 28, an ILCM Facebook post urged them to seek help immediately:

“Dear friends from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone in MN who currently have (or know someone with) TPS based on the Ebola-based protections. USCIS announced in the fall of 2016 that TPS would end on May 20, 2017. This notice confirms that it will in fact end in three weeks. If you had a status prior to TPS – you may be able to return to that status. If you did not – you are expected to depart from the U.S. We encourage everyone to consult with an experienced immigration attorney ASAP to determine if there is any other possible protections for you. DO NOT DELAY. If you are low-income please call ILCM at 1-800-223-1368 or 651-641-1011 for more information. You can also find immigration attorneys in MN and nationwide at www.aila.org“