|
America's Best Gift to War Ravaged
Nations
Permanent Residency for Liberians and Sierra Leoneans
by Torli H. Krua, FOL Board of Trustees
An old
Chinese proverb says: "If your vision
is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision is for ten years, plant
trees. If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people." The
American tradition of offering a safe haven to traumatized refugees
and torture survivors is an example of how the United States
continues to invest in people from nations all over the world.
Armed conflicts around the world force thousands of grief-stricken
and broken-hearted people to come to the United States. They come,
like the people from Liberia and Sierra Leone, to escape horrible
civil war and torture. Others are stranded in the United States
when unrest strikes and they have no place to go, because survival
has become impossible in their countries plagued by conflicts.
Many people stranded in the United States
soon find only more struggles. Many are not allowed to work to
sustain themselves and their families, nor are they able to access
social services reserved only for U.S. citizens, permanent
residents, and refugees resettled by the US government. Still many
cannot acquire the skills and education needed to rebuild their
war-ravaged countries. Unable to return home and not allowed the
opportunity for survival in the U.S., over 5000 Liberian and 2700
Sierra Leonean refugees on American soil find themselves without
temporary protection and hope and without the means to meet their
basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Just as
re-cycling reprocesses materials, instead of trash ing them, and puts
them to valuable use, many of the hopeless refugees without legal
status in America may be the best hope for their countries and
families. If only US citizens and the US government can afford the
necessary compassion and give them a chance of a new beginning.
The
United States government has responded to the plight of victims
stranded on American soil due to natural disaster and
armed-conflict. In 1990, as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 (“IMMACT”),
P.L. 101-649, Congress established a procedure by which the Attorney
General may provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to aliens in
the United States who are temporarily unable to safely return to
their home country because of ongoing armed conflict, the temporary
effects of an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and
temporary conditions. TPS is a temporary immigration status granted
to eligible nationals of designated countries (or parts thereof) to
live and work legally in the United States.
An
excellent example of why granting legal status to refugees helps in
the rebuilding process can be seen in this true story of the success
of Mary Paye, a Liberian. Mary Paye, a single parent whose Nursing
education
at Cuttington University College was shattered by the Liberian Civil
War was granted TPS in the USA. With TPS she was allowed to work
and pay taxes in the USA, but could not live in public housing,
obtain student loans, or qualify for financial aid to complete her
education. Determined to excel, over the next ten years, Ms. Paye
worked two jobs to support her son and successfully completed
training for Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Licensed Practical
Nurse (LPN) and Registered Nurse (RN) without the assistance of the
US Federal government’s Financial Aid or Student Loans. Now Ms.
Paye plans to apply her skills toward the rebuilding of Liberia by
returning home. Additionally, her son recently graduated from high
school and was admitted to Cornell University. He plans to study
Civil Engineering with the dream of returning to help rebuild the
bridges and buildings destroyed by Liberian warlords. In my view,
the determination and resilience of the Payes demonstrates the
valuable rewards of self-reliance that is worthy of emulation. Why
would anyone deny traumatized refugees temporary protection?
On March
1, 2003, pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law
107-296, the authority to designate a country (or part thereof) for
TPS and to extend and terminate TPS designations was transferred
from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security. At
the same time, responsibility for administering the TPS program was
transferred from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
During
the period for which a country has been designated under the TPS
program, TPS beneficiaries may remain in the United States and may
obtain work authorization. However, TPS does not lead to permanent
resident status. When the TPS designation of a country is
terminated, beneficiaries revert to the same immigration status they
maintained before. Unfortunately, the impact of natural disasters
and armed conflicts lasts for decades, far beyond the one-year TPS,
making a community and human remedy a necessity.
Nearly, 5000 Liberians,
including many evacuated by the US military in June 2003, with their
American-born children have been denied access to safety-net
benefits and permits to work. On November 18, 2003, the entire
Massachusetts Delegation to Congress (12 members of Congress
inclu ding John Kerry and Ted Kennedy) appealed to the US Department
of Homeland Security to grant TPS to all Liberians who entered the
USA because of ongoing-armed conflict in Liberia. The US Department
of Homeland Security refused to honor the request from Congress
without any justification. The Liberians in question cannot work,
support their families or even acquire education in the United
States like Ms. Paye.
The
Liberians are not alone. On May 2, 2004, over 2700 refugees from
Sierra Leone’s barbaric civil war saw their work permits terminated
- many have American-born children living in extreme difficulties.
All these victims are stranded in America while the devastation in
their native countries continues to make it unsafe for them to
return home. One year after termination of their work permits and
the disruption of the lives of these Sierra Leonean refugees
residing in the USA, the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance published
a situation report on Sierra Leone citing an ongoing post war
emergency. The report published on May 13, 2005 said, “…People
trying to resettle in their ravaged communities continue to face
difficult challenges in re-establishing their
livelihoods. Food insecurity and the lack of meaningful empowerment
facilities, particularly for women and youths, in terms of income
generating activities are now creating the post war emergency
situation.”
According to a recent Associated Press news article, “The US
House of Representatives approved an 82-billion-dollar emergency
budget for military operations in
Iraq
and Afghanistan that also includes 656 million dollars to aid
victims of last year's tsunami in the Indian Ocean….” Paid
by taxpayers, this cost of the liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan
thousands of miles away has been approved by Democrats and
Republicans. At the same time, here at home, young and vulnerable
US citizens are put at risk because of direct government actions
against refugee parents denied TPS. The government is giving away
billions of dollars thousands of miles away in the name of
liberation and compassion for tsunami victims, and at the same time,
they are denying defenseless refugees, who survived torture, war,
and environmental disasters, permits to work and support their
families. The message and logic make no sense to me.
Imagine the trauma of
leaving home for work or school in the morning and never returning
because your home, family, and dreams have been instantly washed
away by civil war or natural disaster - gone forever! In such
situations, the bare minimum a community of human beings can do is
show love and compassion, being fully cognizant that life on earth
is full of swift transitions to which the rich and poor are
susceptible. Beyond the mere feeling of sympathy and sorrow,
it is our obligation as human beings to create in advance a safety
net and infrastructures guaranteeing the basic necessities needed by
such victims to support life: food, clothing, and shelter.
Through these we can support the resilience of the human spirit and
assist victims in their life-long healing process from the trauma
and indelible scars of loss.
We ask that the USA do for Liberians and Sierra Leoneans exactly
what they have done for other refugees similarly situated. According
to Senator Jack Reed, D-RI, “Few groups who have received
protected status have remained in this immigration limbo longer than
the Liberians. In the time since the Liberians left their homeland
because of a bloody civil war, Congress has passed a law allowing
4,996 Poles, 387 Ugandans, 565 Afghanis and 1,180 Ethiopians to
adjust their status. The 102nd Congress passed a law to change the
status of over 50,000 Chinese nationals who had been granted DED
after the Tiananmen Square massacre. And when Congress passed
legislation known as NACARA, 150,000 Nicaraguans, 5,000 Cubans,
200,000 El Salvadorans and 50,000 Guatemalans also became eligible
to change their status.”
In conclusion, given the immense contributions many Liberians and
Sierra Leoneans have made to the United States in the past 15 years,
it’s time the US helps these people put together their broken lives
and broken countries. Granting permanent residency to all Liberian
and Sierra Leoneans refugees currently on American soil is the best
foreign aid the United States can give in rebuilding Liberia and
Sierra Leone because legal status makes self-reliance possible.
These people can acquire the education, skills, and resources and
return to rebuild their native countries. At the end of the day,
the USA may give millions of dollars in foreign aid to government
officials. However, the investment that would impact a lifetime is
an investment in the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Failure to
promote self-reliance by investing in the people would only result
in a culture of dependence abroad and an unnecessary humanitarian
crisis like the current crisis brewing in the USA. Consistent with
the policy of compassionate conservatism, I ask President George
Bush to lend his voice and help promote self-reliance through the
granting of legal status to Liberians and Sierra Leoneans on
American soil.
|
