Liberia

Goodwill May Yield Tangible Dividends for Old Ally

Thanks to widespread support for Liberia's fledgling post-conflict democracy in the U.S. Congress and within the Bush administration, several thousand Liberians living in the United States who are facing deportation in 60 days are likely to win a reprieve.

Liberia is striving to recover from a quarter century of unrest, including 14 years of conflict that spilled into neighboring countries and killed or uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and left many stranded in the United States.

Congressional backing has been growing for extending what is known as temporary protective status (TPS), which has allowed some 3600 Liberians and their families otherwise ineligible for immigration to the United States to stay to work here. President George Bush has signaled his support for an extension, despite a ruling last September by the Department of Homeland Security that TPS for Liberians would expire on October 1 this year.

"Liberia needs time to rebuild and recover and is unfortunately not in a position to absorb and provide for an influx of refugees," President Ellen John Sirleaf said in an April letter seeking Congressional support.

The extension of temporary status "is going to happen," Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson told a gathering of several hundred Liberians at an Independence Day celebration Thursday night in Washington, DC. Johnson, who has pledged to assist Liberia with both investment and political clout, met earlier on Thursday with President Bush at the White House to discuss U.S.-Liberia relations.

An extension could be effected either by Homeland Security reversing its 2006 termination and issuing another extension or by Congress adopting legislation to extend TPS or to grant permanent residence to Liberians currently in the United States on temporary status. A bill approving a one-year extension for Liberians with temporary status is being debated by the House of Representatives today (Monday).The measure is supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led a Congressional visit to Monrovia last year, as well as by two top Republicans, Minority Leader John Beohner (Ohio) and his deputy, Roy Blunt (Missouri).

"There's grass roots pressure and overwhelming support for this from Democrats and Republicans alike on the Hill," said Riva Levinson, a veteran lobbyist who represents Liberia in Washington, DC.

Congressional intent

Both houses of Congress are scheduled to adjourn later this week for the August recess, which limits the number of days they will be in session before TPS expires at the end of September. To gain approval in the time available will require that no member of either house registers opposition. Action by either Congress or the administration is made more difficult by the fact that immigration is currently the most controversial domestic issue in American politics.

Bob Johnson came away from his meeting with Bush convinced that the administration will act on its own if Congress fails to enact an extension in time. "With congressional intent so clear, the president has the political cover he needs to do what he wants to do - extend TPS," said one official who was not authorized to speak for attribution.

A letter asking the president to defer deportation of Liberians pending approval of permanent residency is being circulated in the House by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat. "Aside from the prospect that Liberian-American families could be uprooted or forced to separate," Kennedy's letter says, "Liberia's recovery effort could lose an important source of financial aid and technical expertise." More than 60 members have agreed to sign the letter, including Rep. David Price (Democrat-NC), who chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and Donald Payne (Democrat-New Jersey), who chairs the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. Republicans signatories include Frank Wolf from Virginia and Jeff Flake from Arizona, both of whom have taken a leading role on African issues.

Kennedy introduced a bill earlier this year that would grant permanent residency to Liberians with temporary status. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate in February by Jack Reed, also a Democrat from Rhode Island, where a large number of Liberians have settled. The legislation on the House floor today represents a bipartisan compromise designed to sidestep opposition from anti-immigration interests who oppose the granting of permanent status but have agreed not to try to block a TPS extension.

The Liberian government estimates that remittances to Liberia from the United States average $6 million each month, according to Charles Minor, the country's ambassador in Washington. Boniface Satu, president of the Liberian Community Association serving the Washington, DC area, said most Liberians in the United States support 10 people or more back home and says these remittances are vital to Liberia's recovery. "Every quarter, I send $300 to $400 to Liberia," he said. "I support not only my family but also extended family and friends."

Forcing Liberians living in the United States on temporary status to leave would cut off critical sustenance for thousands of Liberia's three million people. It would also deprive the country of vital foreign exchange. "This could jeopardize our progress," said Ambassador Minor. "We don't have the housing stock, the schools or the medical facilities to support this many returnees as yet." President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made job creation a top priority, Minor said, but the country cannot yet provide employment for thousands of returning Liberians, even if they have skills and experience.