US administration to extend protected status for Somali nationals

July 19, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue a notice shortly extending special status for certain Somali nationals living in the US for 18 months, Sudan Tribune has learned.

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.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

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 Sudan are also covered by the program.

Eligibility for TPS is limited to Somali nationals who entered the country on or before September 4, 2001. 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.

Somalia was initially designated for TPS in 1991 and was subsequently extended throughout the years. There are approximately 300 nationals of Somalia covered by the program currently.

(ST)