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Fearful Liberians Face U.S. Deadline For Deportation
Worshipers attend a service at the Little White Chapel, a Liberian Pentecostal congregation whose services are held at Glenmont United Methodist Church in Silver Spring. Most members of the Washington region's Liberian community live in the Maryland suburbs.
(By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Post)
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Simpson has tried to adjust her immigration status, but she said lawyers told her the only option is sponsorship by her employer, and her bosses said no. Ami aspires to be a doctor. In Liberia, Simpson worries, Ami could not see a doctor for regular checkups, let alone become one.
"I just try to keep a straight head because I have to take care of my kids," said Simpson, a single mother who had another child, 7-month-old Jamal, last year.
Liberians long have come to the United States to study, and many have returned to their homeland. More began to stay in the 1980s, after a coup put dictator Samuel K. Doe in power. In 1989, when a rebel invasion led by Charles G. Taylor sparked war, an influx headed to the United States. Today, large populations live in Minnesota, Philadelphia, Rhode Island and the Washington region.
Census data indicate that about 5,000 Liberian natives live in the Washington area, although community leaders say the figure is much higher. Most live in the Maryland suburbs, many working in health care and financial services, leaders said. The community has spawned soccer leagues, a Georgia Avenue nightclub that pulsates with African music on weekends and a Liberian Community Association that has lobbied for green cards for TPS holders.
Many Liberians with TPS became permanent residents through marriage or work. But those without sponsors have renewed their permits each year, paid their taxes and stayed put, hoping for a solution. TPS holders cannot leave the United States except in extreme circumstances.
One chance died last month with the failed Senate immigration bill, which would have given them a path to residency. Now, as they have each year since 1999, they are pinning hope on legislation sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) that would grant permanent residency to Liberians in the United States. A similar bill has been proposed in the House.
It is "an issue of fairness," Reed said. "They've worked very hard, and they have been part of the community."
Each year, the bill has gone nowhere. Liberians fear that current national tensions over immigration might doom it again.
That is likely, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports limits on immigration. He predicted that the administration might come to the rescue, as previous administrations have for other nations whose TPS was terminated. Regardless, he said, the 16-year limbo for Liberians shows that the TPS program, under which hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans, Somalis and others live and work in the United States, needs review.
"It really does highlight the absurdity of 'permanent temporary status,' " Krikorian said. "If we're going to grant temporary status to somebody, it should be temporary. Either we make them leave or we convert their status to something permanent."
Many Liberians say they would happily return to Liberia -- if Liberia were more developed.
Marpue Stewart arrived in 1989 seeking medical treatment, and the fighting began while she was in the United States. With TPS, she has found steady work at a nursing home and filled a Takoma Park apartment with plush furniture. She thinks if she walked down the streets of the Liberian capital of Monrovia now, she would get lost.
