[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]


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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.

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    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;

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    (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