Washington – Liberians across the United States are welcoming news of the Senate approval of a provision in the NDAA that accelerates a pathway to citizenship, especially for Liberians on temporarily legal reliefs. The Provision contains in the National Defense Authorization Act, covers Liberians on Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as those who have been living in the US continuously since Nov. 20, 2014.
On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled US Senate voted to approve the S. 1790 Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA by 86-8, to the applause of President Trump who had earlier pledged to sign the bill the moment it reaches his desk. The NDAA companion bill was last week approved 377-48 by the Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation represents significant wins for some of President Trump’s priorities, including the Space Force, the elimination of specific language that once restricted funds for building a border wall with Mexico, and a massive spending boost for the Department of Defense.
“Wow! All of our priorities have made it into the final NDAA: Pay Raise for our Troops, rebuilding our Military, Paid Parental Leave, Border Security, and Space Force!” he gleefully tweeted.
Analysts predict that the President will affix his signature to the bill in a couple of weeks.
The Liberian Provision
The Liberian provision S.456, tugged under Section 7611 of the bill, marks the greatest accomplishment of the Liberian immigration campaign in the United States. For almost 28 years, the campaign to stabilize the immigration status of Liberians only produced countless number of deferments, often through an annual temporary presidential legal relief.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island included the Liberian provision in the NDAA Bill. He has been a long-standing supporter and a stalwart champion of Liberian causes in the United States. Other co-sponsors comprised US Senators from Minnesota and other densely-populated Liberian communities in the U.S.
Section 7611 of the NDAA, “… 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.”
The Bill, however, prohibits 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.”
Instead of a narrowed focus on DED holders, the bill has emerged as a very inclusive and expansive piece of legislation for the Liberian Diaspora. By any estimation, the NDAA bill with the Liberian provision is the most pro-Liberian Diaspora legislation ever authored in the US Congress.
Advocates, immigration legal practitioners, and policy experts estimate that the bill will benefit more than 10, 000 people, including spouses and children of Liberian applicants.
Since 1991, Liberia has been continuously designated for either TPS or DED, due to unsafe country conditions preventing Liberians from safely returning. In 2007, President Bush directed that DED be granted to Liberian TPS holders, allowing them to remain in the United States for 18 months. Since then, DED for Liberians has been extended by all subsequent administrations -Democrat and Republican alike. The Ebola TPS, designated in Nov. 2014 for nationals of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, expired May, 2017. This temporary legal relief was in response to the three West African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic.
Initial Reactions
The reactions from the Diaspora has been ecstatic and welcoming.
Abdullah Kiatamba, the Executive Director of African Immigrant Services (AIS), said the final signature will be a huge policy victory for Liberians “languishing in temporarily legal uncertainties and for all those who refused to give up on a cause worthy of everything there is to offer.”
“This moment represents both a breakthrough and a milestone for our accumulated years of organizing, advocacy and lobbying”, he added. “The collective efforts and sacrifices of many groups and leaders have produced what no one thought was remotely possible few years ago.”
Kiatamba, who also serves as the chairman of the Liberian national immigration campaign through the Union of Liberian Association in the Americas (ULAA), said the roles and stories of DED and TPS holders tremendously helped the campaign to create a deeper bond of solidarity with the public and many US policy-makers.
Annie Yonly, a DED holder from Minnesota, is exhilarated. “God is good and I am celebrating right now,” she sighed. “We are grateful for all of our community leaders, as well as our US lawmakers, who took on this fight with so much passion and love.”
Yonly, a nurse, left Liberia since 1984 and had survived on countless extended temporary legal reliefs since then. She was a part of the delegation of more than 75 Liberians who travelled to Washington DC in March to participate in the Liberian DED Lobbying Day at the US Congress.
In a Facebook post, President Vamba S. Fofana of ULAA, said his team was grateful and proud of the result of long years of work and commitment. He said the union will be making a formal position after the signing of the NDAA Bill into law.
Labelle Kollie, whose legal status on Ebola TPS expired two years ago, said she was not only happy but very emotional when she heard about the good news. Kollie lives in Pennsylvania and is a mother of four.
“I am ready to go back to work after two years of being jobless and hopeless”, she declared. “God is able and he will always prove that.”
Many groups across the US are planning celebratory events to mark this landmark policy victory. There are reports of big events being planned in Pennsylvania, New York, and Minnesota.