The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would offer temporary protection status (TPS) to more than 10,000 immigrants from Cameroon in the United States, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work legally due to the ongoing armed conflict in Africa.
Once open for applications, the TPS program will allow Cameroonians who have lived in the United States since April 14 to obtain work and deportation permits for 18 months if they meet the eligibility requirements and pass checks.
A 1990 law allows the U.S. government to set up TPS programs for undocumented or temporary immigrants if the U.S. determines that their country of origin cannot safely accept the return of its citizens due to war, natural disasters, or other “Extraordinary” conditions.
The Ministry of Homeland Security (DHS) said the designation of the TPS for Cameroon was justified by the long-running conflict between the Cameroonian government and armed separatist groups in the English-speaking regions of the West. According to Human Rights Watch, the fighting killed 4,000 civilians.
DHS also cites an increase in attacks on Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group in Africa. The conditions, DHS said, encouraged “extreme violence”, destroyed Cameroon’s infrastructure, fueled economic turmoil and food insecurity, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians.
“Cameroonian citizens currently residing in the United States who cannot return safely due to the extreme violence perpetrated by government forces and armed separatists and the increase in Boko Haram attacks will be able to stay and work in the United States. states until they establish conditions in their home country are improving, “said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Approximately 11,700 immigrants from Cameroon are expected to qualify for the TPS, according to an DHS estimate. Cameroonians arriving in the United States after Friday’s announcement, whether legal or illegal, will not be eligible for the TPS.
Although it allows beneficiaries to work and live in the United States without fear of deportation, the TPS does not make them eligible for permanent residence or citizenship.
Housed in a former school building, a local NGO registers locally displaced people for humanitarian aid arriving from new camps set up in the bush on May 11, 2019 in Buea, Cameroon. Giles Clark / UNOCHA via Getty Images
The Biden administration is increasingly using the powers of the TPS to prevent subgroups of immigrant groups in the United States from deporting, expanding or creating designations for nearly a dozen countries affected by war, ethnic violence, political instability and other crises.
Appointments by the Biden administration have made approximately 600,000 TPS immigrants eligible in the United States, including citizens of Venezuela, Myanmar, Haiti, Afghanistan and Ukraine, government estimates show.
The moves are in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s policy of ending TPS programs for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan as part of repression against humanitarian immigration protection. These efforts have been blocked by federal court rulings.
Trump administration officials and immigration restricters say TPS’s power has been abused to prevent immigrants from deporting for longer than necessary.
Friday’s announcement was a victory for advocacy groups, which called on the Biden administration to provide TPS to Cameroonians last year.
Progressive defenders and some Democrats have expressed disappointment over the time it takes to provide protection to citizens of a predominantly black African country, compared to the TPS designation for Ukraine, which was announced a week after the Russian invasion.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a group that helps black migrants, welcomed the TPS designation for Cameroon, calling it “overdue.” But she said immigration benefits for black immigrants have been unfairly denied or delayed, noting that her group and others have been lobbying for TPS to be offered to Cameroonians for months.
“It was a long battle,” said Joseph. “When it comes to TPS for Cameroon and Haiti, it wasn’t just a gift. It was something we literally had to fight for, for a very long time.”
More Camilo Montoya-Galves
Camilo Montoya-Galves is an immigration reporter for CBS News. Based in Washington, it reflects immigration and policy.
Add Comment