Presidential Document2024-14756
Extending Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
Primary source
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Published
July 3, 2024
Signed
June 28, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 55017-55019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14756]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 55017]]
Memorandum of June 28, 2024
Extending Eligibility for Deferred Enforced
Departure for Liberians
Memorandum for the Secretary of State [and] the
Secretary of Homeland Security
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).
In December 2019, the Congress enacted the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public
Law 116-92) (NDAA), which included, as section 7611,
the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF)
provision. The LRIF provision, with limited exceptions,
makes Liberians who have been continuously present in
the United States since November 20, 2014, as well as
their spouses and children, eligible for adjustment of
status to that of lawful permanent resident (LPR). The
NDAA gave eligible Liberian nationals until December
20, 2020, to apply for this adjustment of status. After
the enactment of the LRIF provision, President Trump
further extended the DED transition period through
January 10, 2021, to ensure that DED beneficiaries
would continue to be eligible for employment
authorization during the LRIF application period.
The LRIF application process was new and complex,
resulting in some procedural and administrative
challenges. Recognizing these difficulties, the
Congress enacted a 1-year extension to the application
period in section 901 of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260). That
legislation, however, did not provide for continued
employment authorization past January 10, 2021. Through
my memorandum of January 20, 2021 (Reinstating Deferred
Enforced Departure for Liberians), DED was subsequently
reinstated through June 30, 2022, in order to permit
employment authorization for eligible Liberians while
they made their applications for adjustment of status
under the LRIF provision. My memorandum of June 27,
2022 (Extending and Expanding Eligibility for Deferred
Enforced Departure for Liberians) (2022 Memorandum),
further authorized an extension of DED for 24 months,
ending June 30, 2024, and expanded eligibility to those
Liberian nationals, or persons without nationality who
last habitually resided in Liberia, who had been
continuously physically present in the United States
since May 20, 2017.
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.
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.
[[Page 55018]]
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 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.
This grant of DED and continued employment
authorization shall apply 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, but shall not apply to such
persons in the following categories:
(1) individuals who would be ineligible for TPS for the reasons provided in
section 244(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.
1254a(c)(2)(B);
(2) individuals who sought or seek LPR status under the LRIF provision but
whose applications have been or are denied by the Secretary of Homeland
Security due to ineligibility for the LRIF provision under sections
7611(b)(1)(C) and (b)(3) of the NDAA;
(3) individuals whose removal the Secretary of Homeland Security determines
is in the interest of the United States, subject to the LRIF provision;
(4) individuals whose presence or activities in the United States the
Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially
serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States;
(5) individuals who have voluntarily returned to Liberia or their country
of last habitual residence outside the United States for an aggregate
period of 180 days or more, as specified in subsection (c)(2) of the LRIF
provision; or
(6) individuals who are subject to extradition.
Accordingly, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland
Security to take the necessary steps to implement for
eligible Liberians:
(1) a deferral of enforced departure from the United States through June
30, 2026, effective immediately; and
(2) authorization for employment valid through June 30, 2026.
[[Page 55019]]
The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and
directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, June 28, 2024
[FR Doc. 2024-14756
Filed 7-2-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4410-10-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 3, 2024.
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