The President of the United States of America, H.E. Joseph R. Biden, has extended the Temporary Protected Status (TIPS) and the Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) for Liberians residing in the United States of America up to June 30, 2026.
In the Memorandum on Extending Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians, issued June 28, 2024, President Biden recounted that since 1991 the United States has provided safe haven for Liberians who were forced to flee their country as a result of armed conflict and widespread civil strife, in part through the grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED).
According to President Biden, there are compelling foreign policy reasons to extend DED for those Liberians who have been continuously present in the United States since May 20, 2017, and were eligible for DED under the 2022 Memorandum. “Providing protection from removal and work authorization to these Liberians, for whom we have long authorized TPS or DED in the United States, honors the historic close relationship between the United States and Liberia and is in the foreign policy interests of the United States,” President Biden underscored.
“Pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I have determined that it is in the foreign policy interests of the United States to extend through June 30, 2026, deferred removal for those Liberians already under a grant of DED under the 2022 Memorandum. I have also determined that these Liberian nationals should have continued employment authorization through June 30, 2026,” President Biden noted.
The US President then instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly direct the appropriate officials to make provision, by means of a notice published in the Federal Register, for immediate allowance of employment authorization and prompt issuance of new or replacement employment authorization documents in appropriate cases for covered Liberians.
The grant of DED and continued employment authorization granted by President Biden applies to any person who was eligible for a grant of DED under the 2022 Memorandum, to include any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who has been continuously physically present in the United States since May 20, 2017.
Meanwhile, the President of the Liberian community in the United States of America, Mohammad Keita, has praised the US government for the DED extension for Liberians based in the United States. He is at the same time calling on Liberians residing in the United States of America to make use of the extended DED period.
Keita reiterated his leadership’s commitment to addressing some of the challenges confronting Liberians in the United States of America.