Presidential Documents

38871 

Federal Register 

Vol. 87, No. 124 

Wednesday, June 29, 2022 

Title 3— 

The President 

Memorandum of June 27, 2022 

Extending and Expanding Eligibility for 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 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 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 new and complex, resulting in some 

procedural and administrative challenges. 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. Through my memorandum of January 20, 

2021 (Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians), DED was subsequently reinstated through June 30, 2022, in order to permit employment 

authorization for eligible Liberians while they made their applications for 

adjustment of status under the LRIF provision. 

There are compelling foreign policy reasons to extend DED for an additional 

period for those Liberians presently residing in the United States who were 

under a grant of DED until June 30, 2022, as well as to defer enforced 

departure for Liberians who have been continuously present in the United 

States since May 20, 2017. In addition to updating the continuous presence 

requirement, I have also determined that it is appropriate to include qualifying Liberians whose LRIF applications have been denied for reasons other 

than ineligibility under sections 7611(b)(1)(C) and (b)(3) of the NDAA in 

this DED designation. In particular, this includes providing protection from 

removal to those who arrived in the United States during a time when 

conditions prevented them from returning safely, including through May 

20, 2017, and have since established family and community ties in the 


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38872 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 29, 2022 / Presidential Documents 

United States. Providing protection from removal and work authorization 

to these Liberians, for whom we have long authorized TPS or DED in 

the United States, including while they 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. 

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, 2024, 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 June 30, 2022, as well as any Liberian national, 

or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who 

has been continuously physically present in the United States since May 

20, 2017. I have also determined that any Liberian national, or person 

without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who was under 

a grant of DED as of June 30, 2022, or who has been continuously physically 

present in the United States since May 20, 2017, should have continued 

employment authorization through June 30, 2024. 

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 June 30, 2022, or those Liberian nationals who have been 

continuously present in the United States since May 20, 2017. The Secretary 

of Homeland Security shall also provide for the prompt issuance of new 

or replacement employment authorization documents in appropriate cases. 

This grant of DED and continued employment authorization shall apply 

to any Liberian DED beneficiary as of June 30, 2022, or any Liberian national 

who has been continuously present in the United States since May 20, 

2017, 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 due to ineligibility for the LRIF provision under sections 

7611(b)(1)(C) and (b)(3) of the NDAA; 

(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; 

or 

(6) 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, 2024, effective immediately; and 

(2) authorization for employment valid through June 30, 2024. 


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The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, June 27, 2022 

[FR Doc. 2022–14082 

Filed 6–28–22; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 4410–10–P 


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