Georgetown Law & UBN Life on Hold

PART II: LIBERIAN REFUGEE IMMIGRATION FAIRNESS (LRIF)

In Part II of this report, we will explore the unique immigration history of Liberians in the United States, including the passage of the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) provisions, and the road to citizenship. Understanding intimately the limitations of both DED and TPS, advocates searched for a better solution for Liberians than the stopgap measures that had been implemented and revoked over time. As the first major immigrant legalization bill in decades, LRIF is a long-awaited reprieve for those stuck in immigration limbo. It is also a helpful model for community-based immigration legislative advocacy as well as a study in implementation challenges yet to be resolved. An Overview of the Liberian Community in the United States Population estimates of Liberians in the United States vary. The Migration Policy Institute estimated in 2018 a total population of 84,800 Liberian immigrants present in the United States. 53 However, in 2012 the American Community Survey estimated that 73,131 Liberian immigrants were living in the United States at the time. 54 Some organizations estimate there are between 250,000 and 500,000 Liberians or Americans of Liberian descent living in the United States. Current numbers demonstrate that 15% of Liberians living in the United States reside in Minnesota. 55 Other states with significant Liberian populations include Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. 56 Tracing Temporary Status for Liberians in the United States The temporary immigration status of Liberians in the United States can be traced from decisions to grant TPS and DED for Liberia at different periods of time beginning inMarch 1991. There are three significant reasons for these continuous grants of temporary status: (1) a civil war in Liberia that erupted in 1989; (2) a subsequent Liberian civil war in 2002; and (3) an Ebola outbreak in 2014. The culmination of these three traumatic events triggered grants of temporary protection for Liberians in the United States for more than twenty-five years. Although the original grant of protection was meant to provide relief from armed conflict in Liberia, due to the 1989 civil war, Liberians were left in legal limbo until the passage of LRIF in 2019. Before LRIF, Liberians were permitted to live and work in the United States under their DED or TPS status, but never allowed to adjust their status or naturalize as U.S. citizens. The temporary nature of the DED and TPS designations for Liberia left many people’s fates to the whims of the U.S. government. Many had to wonder year-to-year whether they could remain in the United States as civil wars and an Ebola crisis swept through Liberia. Tracing the continuous grants of protection, due to three primary events, illuminates the significant void that LRIF fills.

53 Janet E. Reilly, Becoming Transnational Citizens: The Liberian Diaspora’s Civic Engagement in the United States and in Homeland Peacebuilding, 31 – 33 CUNY Academic Works (2014), https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/98/. 54 Id. 55 International Institute of Minnesota, https://iimn.org/publication/finding-common-ground/minnesotas-refugees/africa/liberians/. 56 Reilly, supra note 53, at 31.

Life On Hold: Black Immigrants & the Promise of Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness

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