US officially extends protected status for Sudanese residents

August 13, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will publish a notice on Thursday announcing the extension of a special status for certain Sudanese living in the US until May 2, 2010.

The notice signed by the Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff justified the extension by saying that the “armed conflict [in Sudan] is ongoing, and the extraordinary and temporary conditions that prompted the October 7, 2004, re-designation persist”.

“In Darfur and Southern Sudan, conditions remained the same or have worsened over the past year” Chertoff stated in an advance copy of the notice obtained by Sudan Tribune.

“There were 280,000 newly displaced Sudanese (including 80,000 displaced in the first two months of 2008), bringing the total number of internally displaced persons (IDP’s) to 2,387,000” the statement read.

Following the publication of the notice in the Federal register on Thursday qualified Sudanese may file registration applications for TPS with USCIS during the 60 days registration period.

Pursuant to the USCIS announcement the work authorizations for Sudanese nationals currently under TPS has been automatically extended till May 2, 2009 to prevent lapse in employment while applications are being processed. The work permits have an expiration date of November 2, 2008.

TPS is a temporary immigration status granted to nationals of designated countries as part of the US Immigration Act of 1990.

The US Congress established a procedure by which the Attorney General may provide 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.

During the period for which a country has been designated under the TPS program, the registrants are allowed to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization and may not be deported unless they commit certain crimes.

However TPS does not lead to permanent residence in the US which is better known as the ‘green card’. Several bills in the US Congress to grant permanent residence to some TPS beneficiaries have stalled.

Currently nationals of Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Somalia are also covered by the program.

Eligibility for TPS is limited to Sudanese nationals who entered the country on or before October 7, 2004. The immigration body states that an individual who has been convicted in the United States of either a felony or two or more misdemeanors is not eligible for TPS.

Sudan was initially designated for TPS in 1997 and was subsequently extended throughout the years. There are approximately 500 nationals of Sudan covered by the program currently.

(ST)