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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 29, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38871-38873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14082]
[[Page 38869]]
Vol. 87
Wednesday,
No. 124
June 29, 2022
Part III
The President
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Memorandum of June 27, 2022--Extending and Expanding Eligibility for
Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87 , No. 124 / Wednesday, June 29, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 38871]]
Memorandum of June 27, 2022
Extending and Expanding 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). The armed conflict ended in 2003, and TPS for
affected Liberian nationals ended effective October 1,
- President Bush then deferred the enforced
departure of those Liberians originally granted TPS.
President Obama, in successive memoranda, extended that
grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to March 31,
- President Trump then determined that conditions
in Liberia did not warrant a further extension of DED,
but that the foreign policy interests of the United
States warranted an orderly transition period for
Liberian DED beneficiaries. President Trump later
extended that DED transition period through March 30,
2020.
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.
There are compelling foreign policy reasons to extend
DED for an additional period for those Liberians
presently residing in the United States who were under
a grant of DED until June 30, 2022, as well as to defer
enforced departure for Liberians who have been
continuously present in the United States since May 20,
- In addition to updating the continuous presence
requirement, I have also determined that it is
appropriate to include qualifying Liberians whose LRIF
applications have been denied for reasons other than
ineligibility under sections 7611(b)(1)(C) and (b)(3)
of the NDAA in this DED designation. In particular,
this includes providing protection from removal to
those who arrived in the United States during a time
when conditions prevented them from returning safely,
including through May 20, 2017, and have since
established family and community ties in the
[[Page 38872]]
United States. Providing protection from removal and
work authorization to these Liberians, for whom we have
long authorized TPS or DED in the United States,
including while they complete the LRIF status-
adjustment process, 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 defer through June 30, 2024,
the removal of any Liberian national, or person without
nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who
is present in the United States and who was under a
grant of DED as of June 30, 2022, as well as 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. I have also determined that any
Liberian national, or person without nationality who
last habitually resided in Liberia, who was under a
grant of DED as of June 30, 2022, or who has been
continuously physically present in the United States
since May 20, 2017, should have continued employment
authorization through June 30, 2024.
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 for
those Liberians who held appropriate DED-related
employment authorization documents as of June 30, 2022,
or those Liberian nationals who have been continuously
present in the United States since May 20, 2017. The
Secretary of Homeland Security shall also provide for
the prompt issuance of new or replacement employment
authorization documents in appropriate cases.
This grant of DED and continued employment
authorization shall apply to any Liberian DED
beneficiary as of June 30, 2022, or any Liberian
national who has been continuously 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, 2024, effective
immediately; and
(2) authorization for employment valid through June
30, 2024.
[[Page 38873]]
The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and
directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, June 27, 2022
[FR Doc. 2022-14082
Filed 6-28-22; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4410-10-P
