The White House has on Thursday announced that it was extending the “wind-down period” for the expiration of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protections for an additional 12 months, amid deadline looming and pressure by lawyers and politicians.
DED was given to Liberians to provide protections to families and individuals who were unable to return their homeland due to civil wars and unusual natural disasters. DED gave Liberians the rights to live and work in the United States, with no citizenship.
US President Donald Trump has said last year’s March that he was ending the DED protection to Liberians, providing a year to an estimated 4,000 Liberians to live in the US until March 31, 2019, to either make living in the US by their own or to take risk deportation.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, announcing the extension, in a statement, Trump said, “Upon further reflection and review, I have decided that is is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to extend the wind-down period for an additional 12 months … The overall situation in West Africa remains concerning and Liberia is an important regional partner for the United States.”
Trump added, “The reintegration of DED beneficiaries into Liberian civil and political life will be a complex task, and an unsuccessful transition could straining United States-Liberia relations and undermine Liberia’s post-civil war strides toward democracy and political stability.”
A Liberian DED recipient, Yatta Kiazolu, recently testified before the Senate judiciary committee, in a statement stated: “We are still in the fight for a permanent solution because we still have lives after March 31st, 2020.”