AFRICA/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is facing mounting pressure from lawmakers, human rights activists and civil rights lawyers to extend deportation protections for thousands of Liberians who may become undocumented immigrants within a week. President Donald Trump announced in March 2018 that hundreds of Liberians who had been legally living and working in the U.S. for more than two decades would have their status revoked and would no longer be protected from deportation. Through a presidential memorandum, the president gave them one year to settle their affairs, but now he’s facing pressure to save that group before their status expires on Sunday. Democrats in Congress have sent letters to Trump to extend the Deferred Enforced Departure program, or DED, for the Liberians, arguing that conditions in their home country remain dangerous and that they’ve become contributing members of their U.S. communities. Hennepin County, Minnesota, home to Minneapolis, has the greatest number of Liberians — an estimated 8,285 — among all counties in the nation, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey covering 2013-2017. The International Institute of Minnesota, a nonprofit devoted to helping new immigrants settle in the state, estimated 35,000 Liberians lived in the state.”
–Alan Gomez, “Hundreds of Liberians legally in U.S. face deportation following Trump decision,” USA Today, March 27, 2019 6:43 am