President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is granting temporary amnesty status to more than 7,400 Syrian citizens living in the United States who would otherwise be eligible for deportation.
On Friday, DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorcas announced that the Biden administration will extend the temporary protection status (TPS) for an additional 18 months for approximately 6,500 Syrians in the United States. Around 1,000 more Syrians are expected to be eligible for TPS under the extension.
The move came after former President Obama created the TPS for Syrians and subsequently issued a semi-pardon in 2016. Then, in 2018, former President Trump’s administration again extended the TPS for Syrians.
“As the ongoing civil war in Syria continues, leading to continued destruction and desperation, we are determined to protect Syrian citizens in the United States,” Mallorcas said in a statement. Said. “As part of this name change, as of July 28, 2022, Syrian citizens living in the United States will be eligible to stay as it is not safe to return to their country.”
The TPS functions as a quasi-amnesty for foreign nationals created under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 1990, preventing the deportation of individuals from countries experiencing famine, war or natural disasters.
Since the Clinton administration, TPS has become a de facto amnesty program as the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and now Biden administrations continue to update the program for different countries.
More than 400,000 foreigners with TPS status live in the United States in 2021. About 350,000 of these TPS aliens are from Venezuela.
Source: Breitbart
