Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians, 9530-9531 [2021-03153]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Notices
or to request special assistance at the
meeting, please contact NIAC@
cisa.dhs.gov by 5:00 p.m. EST on
Monday, March 1, 2021.
Rachel Liang,
Designated Federal Officer, President’s
National Infrastructure Advisory Council,
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2021–02981 Filed 2–12–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–9P–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services
Reinstating Deferred Enforced
Departure for Liberians
U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS),
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
A ‘‘Memorandum on Reinstating
Deferred Enforced Departure for
Liberians’’ was issued by President
Biden on January 20, 2021. The
President determined that it is in the
foreign policy interests of the United
States to reinstate Deferred Enforced
Departure (DED) for Liberians through
June 30, 2022. The President directed
the Secretary of Homeland Security to
extend DED for eligible Liberians
currently covered under DED and to
provide for continued work
authorization through June 30, 2022.
The President further authorized and
directed the Secretary of Homeland
Security to publish this memorandum
in the Federal Register. The text of the
memorandum (published January 25,
2021, at 86 FR 7055) is set out below.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Tracy L. Renaud,
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services.
Memorandum on Reinstating Deferred
Enforced Departure for Liberians
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, 2007. 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:04 Feb 12, 2021
Jkt 253001
(DED) to March 31, 2018. 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 affording 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
(Pub. L. 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 United States 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
hampered by a slow launch,
cumbersome procedures, and delays in
adjudication. Recognizing these
difficulties, the Congress enacted a 1year extension to the application period
in section 901 of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116–
260). That legislation, however, did not
provide for continued employment
authorization past January 10, 2021, the
expiration of the most recent DED
transition period.
There are compelling foreign policy
reasons to reinstate DED for an
additional period for those Liberians
presently residing in the United States
who were under a grant of DED as of
January 10, 2021. Providing work
authorization to these Liberians, for
whom we have long authorized TPS or
DED in the United States, while they
initiate and complete the LRIF statusadjustment process, honors the historic
close relationship between the United
States and Liberia and is in the foreign
policy interests of the United States. I
urge all Liberian DED beneficiaries to
apply promptly for adjustment of status,
and I direct the Secretary of Homeland
Security to review the LRIF application
procedures administered by United
States Citizenship and Immigration
Services to ensure that they facilitate
PO 00000
Frm 00054
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
ease of application and timely
adjudication.
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, 2022, 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 January
10, 2021. I have also determined that
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 January 10, 2021, should have
continued employment authorization
through June 30, 2022.
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 DEDrelated employment authorization
documents as of January 10, 2021. The
Secretary shall also provide for the
prompt issuance of new or replacement
documents in appropriate cases.
This grant of DED and continued
employment authorization shall apply
to any Liberian DED beneficiary as of
January 10, 2021, 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;
(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;
E:\FR\FM\16FEN1.SGM
16FEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Notices
(6) Individuals who were deported,
excluded, or removed prior to the date
of this memorandum; or
(7) 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,
2022, effective immediately; and
(2) authorization for employment
valid through June 30, 2022.
The Secretary of Homeland Security
is authorized and directed to publish
this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
[FR Doc. 2021–03153 Filed 2–12–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–97–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services
Reinstatement of Deferred Enforced
Departure and Continuation of
Employment Authorization and
Automatic Extension of Existing
Employment Authorization Documents
for Eligible Liberians
U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS),
Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
On January 20, 2021,
President Biden issued a memorandum
to the Secretary of Homeland Security
(Secretary) directing the Secretary to
reinstate Deferred Enforced Departure
(DED) for eligible Liberians, and to
provide for continued work
authorization through June 30, 2022.
Eligible Liberian nationals (and persons
without nationality who last habitually
resided in Liberia) covered under DED
as of January 10, 2021 may remain in
the United States through June 30, 2022.
This notice extends through June 30,
2022 employment authorization for
Liberians covered under DED and also
automatically extends DED-related
Employment Authorization Documents
(EADs) for those who already have an
EAD with a printed expiration date of
March 30, 2020 or January 10, 2021. The
reinstatement of DED for Liberians is
intended to allow additional time for
eligible Liberians to apply for
adjustment of status on or before
December 20, 2021 under the extension
of the Liberian Refugee Immigration
Fairness (LRIF) provision in section 901
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:04 Feb 12, 2021
Jkt 253001
of the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021. Liberians who apply for
adjustment of status under LRIF may
immediately apply for employment
authorization consistent with that
provision.
DED and employment
authorization for individuals covered
under DED for Liberians is extended
through June 30, 2022. Automatically
extended DED-related EADs, as
specified in this notice, expire after June
30, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
• You may contact Maureen Dunn,
Chief, Humanitarian Affairs Division,
Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services,
Department of Homeland Security, by
mail at 5900 Capital Gateway Drive,
Camp Springs, MD 20746.
• For further information on DED,
including additional information on
eligibility, please visit the USCIS DED
web page at www.uscis.gov/
humanitarian/temporary-protectedstatus/deferred-enforced-departure. You
can find specific information about DED
for Liberians by selecting ‘‘DED Granted
Country: Liberia’’ from the menu on the
left of the DED web page. For further
information on Liberian Refugee
Immigration Fairness (LRIF), including
additional information on eligibility,
please visit the USCIS LRIF web page
www.uscis.gov/green-card/other-waysget-green-card/liberian-refugeeimmigration-fairness.
• If you have additional questions
about DED or LRIF, please visit
uscis.gov/tools. Our online virtual
assistant, Emma, can answer many of
your questions and point you to
additional information on our website.
If you are unable to find your answers
there, you may also call the USCIS
Contact Center at 800–375–5283 (TTY
800–767–1833).
• Applicants seeking information
about the status of their individual cases
may check Case Status Online, available
on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov,
or call the USCIS Contact Center at 800–
375–5283 (TTY 800–767–1833).
• Further information will also be
available at local USCIS offices upon
publication of this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
Table of Abbreviations
CFR—Code of Federal Regulations
DED—Deferred Enforced Departure
DHS—U.S. Department of Homeland
Security
EAD—Employment Authorization Document
FNC—Final Nonconfirmation
Form I–485—Application to Register
Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
9531
Form I–765—Application for Employment
Authorization
Form I–797—Notice of Action (Approval
Notice)
Form I–9—Employment Eligibility
Verification
Form I–912—Request for Fee Waiver
FR—Federal Register
Government—U.S. Government
IER—U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights
Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights
Section
LRIF—Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness
SAVE—USCIS Systematic Alien Verification
for Entitlements Program
Secretary—Secretary of Homeland Security
TNC—Tentative Nonconfirmation
TPS—Temporary Protected Status
TTY—Text Telephone
USCIS—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services
U.S.C.—United States Code
Purpose of This Action
Pursuant to the President’s
constitutional authority to conduct the
foreign relations of the United States,
President Biden has concluded that
foreign policy considerations warrant a
reinstatement of DED for Liberians
through June 30, 2022.1 Through this
notice, as directed by the President,
DHS is extending DED and employment
authorization for covered Liberians
through June 30, 2022 and automatically
extending the validity of DED-related
EADs bearing a printed expiration date
of March 30, 2020 or January 10, 2021
through June 30, 2022.2 The President
authorized the reinstatement of DED to
allow for continued employment
authorization for individuals covered
under DED. Liberians who apply for
adjustment of status on or before
December 20, 2021 under the extension
of the LRIF provision in section 901 of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021 may immediately apply for
employment authorization consistent
with that provision. See Consolidated
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021,
1 See Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary
of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security on
Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for
Liberians January 20, 2021, available at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidentialactions/2021/01/20/reinstating-deferred-enforceddeparture-for-liberians/ Note: Individuals covered
by the presidential DED memorandum include
certain Liberians as well as persons without
nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia
who held Temporary Protected Status on September
30, 2007 and who meet all other criteria in the
memorandum for DED. Hereinafter, ‘‘DED for
Liberians’’ also includes such persons without
nationality.
2 USCIS had previously auto-extended to January
10, 2021 those EADs for individuals covered under
DED for Liberians with a March 30, 2020 facial
expiration date. See Continuation of Employment
Authorization and Automatic Extension of Existing
Employment Authorization Documents for Eligible
Liberians During the Period of Extended WindDown of Deferred Enforced Departure, 84 FR 19496
(April 7, 2020).
E:\FR\FM\16FEN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9530-9531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03153]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department
of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A ``Memorandum on Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for
Liberians'' was issued by President Biden on January 20, 2021. The
President determined that it is in the foreign policy interests of the
United States to reinstate Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for
Liberians through June 30, 2022. The President directed the Secretary
of Homeland Security to extend DED for eligible Liberians currently
covered under DED and to provide for continued work authorization
through June 30, 2022. The President further authorized and directed
the Secretary of Homeland Security to publish this memorandum in the
Federal Register. The text of the memorandum (published January 25,
2021, at 86 FR 7055) is set out below.
Tracy L. Renaud,
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director, U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services.
Memorandum on Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
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, 2007. 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, 2018. 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 affording 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 (Pub. L. 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 United States 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 hampered by a slow launch,
cumbersome procedures, and delays in adjudication. Recognizing these
difficulties, the Congress enacted a 1-year extension to the
application period in section 901 of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260). That legislation, however, did not provide
for continued employment authorization past January 10, 2021, the
expiration of the most recent DED transition period.
There are compelling foreign policy reasons to reinstate DED for an
additional period for those Liberians presently residing in the United
States who were under a grant of DED as of January 10, 2021. Providing
work authorization to these Liberians, for whom we have long authorized
TPS or DED in the United States, while they initiate and 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. I urge all Liberian DED beneficiaries
to apply promptly for adjustment of status, and I direct the Secretary
of Homeland Security to review the LRIF application procedures
administered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to
ensure that they facilitate ease of application and timely
adjudication.
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,
2022, 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 January 10,
2021. I have also determined that 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
January 10, 2021, should have continued employment authorization
through June 30, 2022.
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 January 10, 2021. The
Secretary shall also provide for the prompt issuance of new or
replacement documents in appropriate cases.
This grant of DED and continued employment authorization shall
apply to any Liberian DED beneficiary as of January 10, 2021, 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;
(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;
[[Page 9531]]
(6) Individuals who were deported, excluded, or removed prior to
the date of this memorandum; or
(7) 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, 2022, effective immediately; and
(2) authorization for employment valid through June 30, 2022.
The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and directed to
publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
[FR Doc. 2021-03153 Filed 2-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P
