Obama Orders 18-Month Extension of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians

On August 16, 2011, President Obama issued a memorandum extending the September 30, 2011 expiration of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) applicable to Liberians. The memorandum’s effect is to defer for 18 months 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 is under a grant of DED as of September 30, 2011.

Following the President’s action, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a 6-month extension, through March 31, 2012, of employment authorization for qualifying Liberian nationals covered under DED. Qualifying individuals will be permitted to continue working as they file applications for new Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), which will cover the full 18 months of the DED extension.

Not all Liberians qualify under DED; for example:

• Liberians without Temporary Protected Status (TPS) on Sept. 30, 2007 are not covered under the current DED;
• certain criminals;
• persons subject to the mandatory bars to TPS; and
• other ineligible persons described in President Obama’s memorandum.

USCIS will publish in the Federal Register a notice with instructions on obtaining employment authorization for the remainder of the DED extension.