Many Liberians fleeing
civil war in the 1990s were given temporary protected status to stay in
the U.S. — with no path to citizenship — and became part of the DED
program in 2007. They faced the prospect of deportation under
administrations of both parties, with continual extensions.
Trump
twice moved to end the program, saying Liberians could return to their
homeland because conditions in the country had improved: It was no
longer experiencing armed conflicts and had recovered from a 2014
outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. But as Liberians' DED status was set
to expire on March 31 this year, the administration approved a one-year
reprieve.
