Boston, Massachusetts – An estimated 10,000 Liberians who fled a bloody civil war that originated from America and entered the United States on or before November 20, 2014, are eligible to apply for permanent residency, according to a new law, The Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act signed by President Trump on December 20, 2019.
Given the average family size of Liberians, (5.1 persons) up to 50,000 Liberians may benefit from this new law. December 19, 2020, is the fast-approaching deadline for all beneficiaries of the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act to file for permanent residency (green cards) for themselves, their spouses, and all their children under 21 years of age. As the deadline looms, a group of human rights advocates is escalating a humanitarian alert to raise awareness about the opportunity to ensure that everyone who qualifies to apply to do so in a timely manner.
Meanwhile, Liberians in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the birthplace of the American Revolution, led by Rev,. Torli H. Krua, will, on August 24, 2020, Spread a giant Liberian Flag in Boston Common, calling on the United States Congress, in the wake of the death of George Floyd, to mitigate officially sanctioned racism and American Colonization by waiving all filing fees for unemployed Liberian beneficiaries of the Liberian Refugee fairness Act, commission an investigation into the illegal colonization of African Americans in Africa and the atrocities, massacres and torture and rape that is ongoing in the colony, refund millions of dollars unlawfully taken from Liberians in visa denials and admit Liberia among countries benefiting from the American Visa Waiver Program.
In a letter to the Acting Foreign Minister of Liberia, Hon. Fahnbulleh, Senator Prince Johnson of Nimba County and Representative Rogers Domah of Nimba County, Rev. Torli H. Krua, a native of Nimba County and Founder of Universal Human Rights International of Boston, Massachusetts called on the Weah-led Administration and the Liberian National Legislature to urgently take two simple urgent actions to ensure that every Liberian beneficiary applies for the rare opportunity.
“We call on the Weah-led Government and the Legislature to take two urgent actions:
1. Suspend all in-person interviews for Liberian Passports and waive the $205 fee for all the unemployed beneficiaries of the “fairness act “. Furthermore, we ask that Liberia extends all expired passports currently held by Liberian beneficiaries for one year to expedite the process without biometric as lockdowns and covid-19 restrictions have made travel impossible in the United States.
2. As a sovereign country, we urge the Liberian Government, which is celebrating Flag Day in honor of America’s red, white and blue, to urgently communicate directly with their counterparts in the USA Government for immediate blanket waiver of all green card filing fees($1225) for unemployed beneficiaries of the “Fairness Act” to expedite the process. ” Rev. Krua wrote in his letters to the Government of Liberia. According to Section 245 (i) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, all refugees entering the United States are exempt from paying filing fees for green cards. Millions of refugees have benefited from this law. Requiring unemployed Liberians denied access to humanitarian assistance for decades and work permits is simply ridiculous. According Article 1 of the 1824 Constitution of the American Colony of Liberia: “All persons born within the limits of the territory held by the American Colonization Society in Liberia, in Africa, or removing there to reside, shall be free and entitled to all the privileges, as are enjoyed by the citizens of the United States.”
Given the average family size of Liberia to be 5.1 persons, the new law may open the golden gates of opportunities of jobs, scholarships and professional development to over 50,000 Liberians.
With the lives of innocent Liberian refugees at serious risk in America due to unfair mistreatment and while the US Embassy is making millions of dollars in non-refundable visa fees from poor Liberians denied visitors’ visa, the Republic of Liberia is celebrating the replica of the American Flag’s Red, White & Blue on August 24, 2020.
“Liberia was and still is a colony of the United States! America has breached its duty of care for the security of Liberians for centuries. In 2020, the denial of humanitarian assistance to Liberian Refugees for decades has caused untold damages. ” Said Rev. Krua. “We have written to the Government of Liberia calling for a public hearing at the National Legislature so that we can prove publicly that Liberia was and still is an American Colony.” Krua stressed. The evidence is crystal clear and needs no elaborations:
1st. The United States’ Declaration of Independence acknowledges the “inalienable rights” of every human being, including people born in the United States as being “equal”.
2nd. On March 26, 1790, the US Congress codified a law sanctioning official racism, which has never been mitigated, restricting American citizenship to only” White persons…” and denying the inalienable rights of mixed race and Blacks born in the United States and preferring white European Immigrants over native Americans, Mixed race Americans, free African Americans and enslaved Africans.
3. In order to solidify officially sanctioned racism of 1790, the Congress again on March 3, 1819 enacted another law to further disenfranchise mixed race and free African Americans by an unholy partnership with ruthless slaveholders to create the American Colony of Liberia as follows:
Appropriated $100,000 to fund colonization
Authorized the United States Navy involvement in the creation of the colony
Specifically provided “logistics for the establishment of an African colony.”
The American Colonization couldn’t have possibly been the colonizer of Liberia in 1819 when it was incorporated in 1831 by the state of Maryland.
The Attorney General Hon. William Wirt, in his opinion of Attorney General #229 was crystal clear the colonization of Americans using taxpayers’ money was unlawful. No wonder America, in the tradition of Gronah Boys who deny fatherhood after unlawfully impregnating young girls has been adamant it did not colonize Liberia. A public hearing will uncover the truth and also designate the entity who must pay ongoing damages of colonization.
In 2020, we still have a replica of the red, white and blue, the American Flag, we still honor the American Slave Owners who never freed a single slave, James Monroe with our capital, Monrovia, and Bushrod Washington with our commercial district, Bushrod Island. On August 24, 2020 Liberians will be celebrating America’s red, white and blue. At the same time, Liberian refugees who fled a civil war made in America are still unable to work legally even with passage of the Liberian Refugee Fairness Act because the “Fairness Act”, has failed to live up to its name with the $1225 imposed on unemployed refugees. Not only Liberian Refugees in America are mistreated and suffering in America for decades, Liberians living in Monrovia have not been spared from discrimination and oppression by the United States. According to the Bushchicken News Agency, US Embassy in Monrovia rejected 70% of Liberian Visa Applicants in 2016; And made US$1.73 million dollars from Liberians denied access to visit the country built by the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors.
The United States leads the world in Covid-19 deaths and infections; 5.2 million infections, 172,000 deaths, with minorities populations hardest hit, Unemployed Liberian Refugees are at serious risks. Liberian Government must take urgent actions because governments across the United States are taking action to protect their citizens. California announced that it would let out 3,500 nonviolent inmates. Thirty-four states suspended in-person proceedings statewide and Sixteen states suspended in-person proceedings at the local level. Hospitals are suspending surgeries and other services. The Liberian Embassy in the United States simply cannot carry out normal services and is incapable of handling 10,000 applicants in a pandemic. While airlines have dramatically scaled back flights, states have restricted travels and shutdown, the under-resourced Liberian Embassy is still requiring Liberians unemployed for decades to travel thousands of miles to Washington or New York for in-person interviews and pay $205 for a passport that has to be sent to the Foreign Ministry in Monrovia for processing.
Recently, governments from other regions of the world have advocated successfully for their citizens in the United States. According to a July 24, 2014 edition of the Washington Post, at a scheduled meeting in the White House on July 25, 2014, President Obama and Vice President Biden hosted Hernández, Guatemala’s Otto Pérez Molina and El Salvador’s Salvador Sánchez Cerén, met in a face-to-face discussions focused on immigration of Central American citizens in the USA.
June 15, 2017, leaders from two Central American nations asked Vice President Mike Pence to ensure that their citizens could remain in the United States as part of a work program that temporarily authorizes their residency. “The concerns voiced by the Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, and the El Salvadoran vice president, Óscar Ortiz, were prompted by increased deportations under the Trump administration.”
Mr. Hernández said. “These people are working and paying their taxes. We’re going to keep defending them because we know these people are not only Hondurans but they’re human beings,” Mr. Hernández added. According to a Wall Street Journal April 22, 2020 article, President Trump said Tuesday that his administration would temporarily bar new immigrants, including some family members of U.S. citizens and foreign workers looking to move to the U.S. under a new executive order.
Retired Massachusetts Lawmaker and veteran civil rights leader, Honorable Benjamin Swan of Springfield, Massachusetts added his voice to the growing pressure on the Weah-led Government and the Liberian Legislature to act quickly. “This crisis shouldn’t need an explanation. As a sovereign country, President Weah and the Liberian Legislature must directly communicate to their counterparts in the American Government, calling for a waiver of fees. In fact, Liberians who desire to become American Citizens should be the first in line without any preconditions because Liberia is the first American Colony.
I hate to call Liberia an American Colony but there is no other explanation. It’s an American Colony.” Abebba Attles, Immigration Attorney and senior partner of the Attles Law Group expressed excitement for the Liberians.” Unlike the Liberians, approximately 800,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, are still in legal limbo without a path to citizenship. Another 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the USA have no green cards or path to US citizenship. With such huge opportunities, the Government of Liberia and all Liberians must unite in requesting another year extension of the deadline to December 19, 2021 and a blanket waiver of all fees, consistent with Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”