DREAM Act Portal Forum - Senate approves path to citizenship for Liberians facing deportation

http://www.startribune.com/senate-ap...ion/566280862/

https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/rel...us-citizenship

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek...116hrpt333.pdf

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...nate-bill/1790

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which included an amendment that offered a path to American citizenship for Liberians currently under Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status. The measure, which passed the House last week and President Donald Trump has said he will sign, would prevent the deportation of many Liberians that was set to take place after March 31.

“We are very happy,” said Erasmus Williams, chairman of the Liberian Immigration Coalition. “We are pleased. This will bring a lot of relief … It’s something that’s overdue.”

Many Liberians fleeing civil war in the 1990s were given temporary protected status to stay in the U.S. — with no path to American citizenship — and became part of the DED program in 2007. They faced the prospect of deportation under administrations of both parties, with continual extensions.

President Donald Trump twice moved to end the program, saying Liberians could return to their homeland because conditions in the country had improved: it was no longer experiencing armed conflicts and had recovered from a 2014 outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. But as Liberians’ DED status was set to expire on March 31, 2019, the administration approved a one-year reprieve.

Liberian refugee immigration fairness (sec. 7611).

Summary: Section 7611 allow eligible Liberians to apply for permanent residency and provide them with a pathway to citizenship.

Details: Section 7611, provides for the adjustment in status from temporary protected status to legal permanent residence, for Liberian nationals and their spouses and children, if the applicant:

Submits an application within 1 year of enactment of this act, has been living in the U.S. continuously since November 20, 2014 and not absent for more than 180 in aggregate, and is otherwise eligible and admissible for permanent residence.

It would prohibit eligibility for anyone convicted of a violent crime, or an individual who has ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

It would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to create a process whereby applicants may seek a stay of deportation if they have filed an application for legal resident status and authorize the Secretary to allow individuals to work in the US while their application is being considered. It would mandate work authorization for anyone whose application has been pending for more than 180 days.

If granted, legal permanent residence would be approved as of the date of arrival in the United States.

Original Senate cosponsors of the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act include Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Cicilline’s companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives was originally cosponsored by Jim Langevin (RI-02), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Dean Phillips (MN-03), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL).

From the most updated version of the Bill:
(c) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA23 TUS.—
24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided under
25 subsection (b) shall apply to any alien who—
1 (A)(i) is a national of Liberia; and
2 (ii) has been continuously present in the
3 United States during the period beginning on
4 November 20, 2014, and ending on the date on
5 which the alien submits an application under
6 subsection (b); or
7 (B) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son
8 or daughter of an alien described in subpara9 graph (A).
10 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS11 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the
12 period of continuous physical presence referred to in
13 paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid14 ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical
15 presence based on one or more absences from the
16 United States for one or more periods amounting, in
17 the aggregate, of not more than 180 days.

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