Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Contact: Jose Magaña-Salgado at jose@masadc.com
Washington, DC -- New data released by the Congressional Research Service on May 6, 2021, shows that the Biden administration is on the verge of repeating the Trump administration’s failure to successfully implement the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program. Out of 10,000 eligible individuals, the federal government has processed fewer than 800 applications. The current deadline for the program is December 20, 2021.
Congress enacted LRIF in December 2019 to create a pathway for citizenship for Liberians who have called the U.S. home for more than five years. Many eligible Liberians previously lived on temporary immigration statuses including both Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) due to two civil wars and the Ebola epidemic. Originally only a one year program, USCIS’s LRIF processing delays and burdensome requirements -- requirements made impossible to meet because of the compounding COVID-19 pandemic -- led advocates to fight for and secure a one-year extension.
The LRIF Strategy Group -- a focused coalition of local, state, and national-level organizations that provide direct legal and other community-based services to Liberians in the United States and includes experts in USCIS operations, implementation issues, and Liberian cultural competency -- have sent multiple sets of recommendations to the Biden administration to address the ongoing issues and ensure the program meets Congressional intent.
“On Day One of his administration, President Biden ordered the Department 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,’”said Diana Konaté, Policy Director at African Communities Together. “With only six months to go in this program, we have yet to see any meaningful adjustments to the ongoing issues that have led to this program failing. While the Biden administration didn’t create these issues, it must fix them immediately. The human consequences are devastating, with thousands at risk of losing the chance of the stability citizenship would provide to them and their families. ”
Pamela Roberts, a staff attorney representing more than a dozen LRIF applicants at HIAS Pennsylvania said: “Representing LRIF applicants who have been facing inconsistent and unnecessary demands for evidence from USCIS -- which are more than what the law itself requires -- has been extraordinarily challenging. USCIS already had crisis-level backlogs and these implementation issues contribute directly to the completion rate of only 20 percent of submitted cases to date. While USCIS developed and implemented the onerous evidentiary requirements and processing practices under the previous administration, over a month into the Biden administration, USCIS conducted a nationwide webinar that confirmed those practices are continuing; without substantive adjustments, there is no way this program can meet Congressional intent.”
“It is key to remember that earnest public outreach and community engagement should be part of USCIS’s implementation of this program,” said Breanne Palmer, Policy & Community Advocacy Counsel at UndocuBlack Network. “Since December 2020, only 700 more LRIF applications have been submitted. We need to see meaningful and culturally competent systemic engagement between USCIS and the Liberian community nationwide, and we need USCIS to coordinate with ICE to make sure that eligible Liberians in detention can also apply. The Black immigrant advocacy community stands ready to assist but at the end of the day, USCIS alone has the power to bridge these gaps.”
“More than a decade after back-to-back civil wars ravaged Liberia from 1989 to 2003, many of those who sought safety and family reunification in the U.S. are still waiting for green cards and citizenship. This new law is vital to close the chapter on the insecurity that Liberians in our country have faced. Liberians in Massachusetts and neighboring Rhode Island have become part of the fabric of our communities and we call upon immigration services to do a better job helping them secure their status under this important program,” said Georgia Katsoulomitis, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
“LRIF is the first program in more than a decade to create a pathway to citizenship for a community that already calls the U.S. home,” said Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. “In the larger context of the Biden administration calling for a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people, DHS and USCIS must work now to make the LRIF program a success. Without proper implementation, good policy turns into empty promises. This is the moment for the administration to show that its stated vision on both immigration and addressing anti-Black systemic racism in the U.S. is backed by action. The administration must do what it takes to make this program a success for the Liberian community and for our country as a whole.”
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