Gov't lets Liberians stay in US amid Ebola crisis


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Liberian immigrants living in the United States without a visa won't be sent back to the epicenter of Ebola crisis in West Africa for at least another two years, the Obama administration said Friday.

President Barack Obama signed a memo extending a legal protection called "deferred enforced departure" that continues a protection from deportation that has been in place for more than a decade.

The government first granted Liberians temporary protective status during that country's bloody civil war, which started in 1991 and ended in 2003.

That original protection expired in October 2007. President George W. Bush then approved deferred enforced departure for the community.

Obama later approved the same protection and Friday renewed it again for two more years.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., applauded the decision, which he says protects immigrants with long-standing ties to the United States.

Reed has introduced legislation that would grant permanent residence to many Liberians now living in the U.S.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.
ALICIA A. CALDWELL

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button