Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 14 / Monday, January 25, 2021 / Presidential Documents 7055 

Memorandum of January 20, 2021 

Reinstating 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, 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 (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 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 (Public Law 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 


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7056 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 14 / Monday, January 25, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

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; 

(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. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 14 / Monday, January 25, 2021 / Presidential Documents 7057 

The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, January 20, 2021 

[FR Doc. 2021–01770 

Filed 1–22–21; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 4410–10–P 


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