Category: Immigration

Immigration March 30, 2019

Trump extends Liberians’ migrant status to 2020

By Chidinma Irene Nwoye

Relief and excitement spread through Liberian communities in the United States on Thursday (Mar. 28) after president Donald Trump issued an executive order extending the deadline of the Deferred Enforced Departure program for 4,000 Liberians living in the US to Mar. 30, 2020.

In March 2018, the Trump administration announced the termination of the program and gave over 4,000 Liberians a year— until Mar. 31, 2019—to leave the US or risk deportation.

According to the White House, yesterday’s decision was made “in the foreign policy interest of the United States.”

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Asylum, Immigration March 20, 2019

Canada ramps up border security to stop the flow of asylum-seekers coming from the US

By Breck Dumas

Canada announced Tuesday it will boost spending on border security in an effort to clamp down on asylum-seekers crossing into its country from the U.S.

The Canadian government is committing an additional $902 million over the next five years in an attempt to stem the flow of asylum-seekers from nations like Nigeria and Central American countries who are swarming its border from the U.S.

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Immigration March 12, 2019

Liberians in U.S. face tough choice as immigration program ends

By Orion Donovan-Smith

Magdalene Menyongar’s day starts with a 5:30 a.m. conference call with women from her church. They pray together as Menyongar makes breakfast and drives to work, reflecting on everything they are thankful for.

But lately, the prayers have turned to matters of politics and immigration. They pray with increasing urgency for Congress or President Trump to act before Menyongar, 48, faces deportation to her native Liberia, where she fled civil war nearly 25 years ago.

In less than six weeks, the order that has allowed her and more than 800 other immigrants from the former American colony in West Africa to live in the United States for decades will end, the result of Trump’s decision last year to terminate a program that every other president since George H.W. Bush supported.

Come March 31, Menyongar will face a choice: Return to Liberia and leave behind her 17-year-old daughter, an American citizen, or stay in the United States, losing her work authorization and becoming an undocumented immigrant.

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Asylum, Immigration March 8, 2019

Congolese top list of refugees accepted in US

Last year, the U.S. accepted the smallest of refugees since the modern resettlement program began in 1980.

According to the latest number from the Migration Policy Institute, 22,491 refugees settled in the U.S. in 2018, that’s just under half of the 45,000 person ceiling set by the government.

Although Texas still leads the nation in resettlements. Last year 1,692 refugees came to the Lone Star State, according to the National Immigration Forum. That’s a 77 percent drop from 2015 when 7,479 refugees were settled, according to Refugee Council USA.

The sharp drop is the result of executive actions by the Trump administration, which wants to limit the inflow of refugees to the U.S. The 45,000 admission cap was the lowest since the Refugee Act of 1980 was approved.

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