3/27/2018

AFRICA/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump said Tuesday [3-27-2018] that several thousand Liberians who have been living in the United States under a temporary immigrant status will have one year to return to their country or they will face deportation. The president said in a memo to the secretary of state that he was formally ending a program that has allowed Liberian immigrants to remain in the United States and work legally since 1999, when President Bill Clinton established it in response to conditions in the country after a civil war. More than 800,000 Liberians were displaced by the war and fled the country. Some sought refuge in the United States. The program, known as Deferred Enforced Departure, has been renewed for Liberians since, giving the immigrants the ability to remain in the United States without fear of deportation. But in the memo, Mr. Trump cited the improved conditions in Liberia as evidence that the program was no longer needed.”

-Michael D. Shear, Trump Ends Temporary Immigration Status for Thousands of Liberians,” The New York Times online, Mar. 27, 2018