One last hope of staying

[question everything]

StarTribune.com
One last hope of staying

Barring a reprieve, thousands of Liberians legally in Minnesota must leave the lives they've built here by Oct. 1.

By Sharon Schmickle, Star Tribune

9/2/07

(snip)

..time is running out for Yonly and thousands of other Liberians in Minnesota and across the nation who are under orders from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to leave the country by Oct. 1. The prospect of such an unusually large forced exodus of long-established residents has the Twin Cities bracing against a blow to suburban real estate markets and a loss of health care workers. Minnesota is home to one of the largest Liberian communities outside Africa.

With Congress returning to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the Liberians and their extensive support network in the Twin Cities -- employers, church leaders and local officials -- are gearing up for all-out lobbying... Bush has so far shown no inclination to interfere with Homeland Security's decision, announced last September. Department officials said the Liberians should return because the country's prolonged civil war has ended, a U.N. force is maintaining order and a democratically elected government is beginning to rebuild.

But the Liberian government warned Washington this year that a flood of forced returnees could jeopardize its fragile stability. In response, the U.S. House voted in July to give the Liberians one more year in this country. That bill, however, was blocked in the Senate, which has been a battleground over immigration issues this year.

(snip)

The Liberians' case is unusual for several reasons:

• They have been allowed to live and work in the United States since 1991, longer than any other group under the arrangement known as Temporary Protected Status. They have bought homes, launched careers and borne children who are U.S. citizens.
• Founded for freed slaves who were no longer welcome in America, Liberia shares a unique history with the United States. Liberians are pleading for consideration of their special standing as a "sister nation."
• The deportation of so many at one time would be rare. Homeland Security hasn't said how many Liberians have to leave. By most estimates it is 1,000 in Minnesota and nearly 4,000 nationwide. .. But counting the spouses and U.S.-born children who may accompany those who are under orders to leave, officials in Brooklyn Park -- home to Minnesota's largest concentration of Liberians -- estimate 3,000 to 5,000 people in Minnesota could pull up stakes.

(snip)


http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1395891.html

[acmavm]

1. Now, these people are here LEGALLY. And get this shit. They

have to leave.

[robinlynne]

6. BUt they are here legally with temporary visas. So they knew they would have to leave

before they came.

[question everything]

10. Realistically, how long should people stay in limbo

under a temporary protected status?

After more than 10 years, when the situation in their country has not changed, some considerations should be given.

And in contrast to the illegals, they can be found and deported, from the same story

"One reason the Liberians would be easy to find and deport is that they have been required to keep in touch with authorities over the years."

[acmavm]

11. Ah, but what about the millions here illegally who didn't have any visas

and who think that they should be able to stay just because they're here? They knew that if caught they'd have to leave. But they take to the streets and demand rights. I would think we would reward and help these people before we would those that came here illegally.

[Laughing Mirror]

2. Astonishing!

I'm speechless. But what I hear Tancredo saying is "Send 'em back to Africa."

But what else can you expect when you've got something calling itself Homeland in charge of your security?

Homeland? Ring any bells?

[robinlynne]

3. hang on. temporary protected status. what does that mean? They were not given

permanent residence, it sounds like. It sounds like a temporary visa. Surely those conditions were a given at the time of the visas? I say this because with a 3 moth visa in brasil, you can get one 3 month extension and then you are out. period. All countries work that way. If you have a temporary visa, it has time restrictions. Only a green card (here) or a permanent resident visa, anywhere else, gives you permanent status. Even so there are lots of restrictions on all resident visas. I liveed in brazil for 20 years, am the widow of a Brazilian, but lost my permanent residence after 22 years because I spent two years here in America. I don't like that, but that is the way all countries work.

[karlrschneider]

4. Apparently there were avenues to becoming legally permanent. From the article:

"Many who have become U.S. citizens or won permanent residency are not subject to deportation."

Those who didn't will have to go.

[robinlynne]

5. makes sense to me.

[question everything]

9. It does not explain how they became citizens

Some through marriage, others, perhaps with an employer sponsoring a green card.

[truedelphi]

7. As someione who is opposed to the continual open border situation

I am equally opposed to sending people back to areas of the world where such chaos exists.

[robinlynne]

8. Honestly if I were the decision maker for a permanent visa for that particular

woman in the article, I would give her a permanent visa.
But I don't understand how everyone expects everyone to get permanent visas automatically. No other country gives out visas that way. It is really hard to get a permanent visa into any other country. Try it sometime. In the rest of the world you sit in jail while they figure your case out.