US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday said that it would allow about 7,000 Syrians to remain in the US for at least another 18 months under protected status as civil war rages in their native country.
The decision was a relief for the Syrians, who would have faced the prospect of returning to a fractured country racked with violence if the administration had rescinded their temporary protected status (TPS) when it runs out next month. Instead, they are allowed to stay through Sept. 30 next year.
“After carefully considering conditions on the ground, I have determined that it is necessary to extend the Temporary Protected Status designation for Syria,” US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement.
“It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute,” she added.
The administration stopped short of redesignating Syria’s status, which means that it will continue to benefit only Syrians who have been in the US since 2016 or earlier.
“It fell short that they didn’t redesignate it, but I think it’s a positive action nonetheless that should be praised,” said Monzer Shakally, 21, a Syrian student at the University of Iowa with the temporary status. “I’m happy this decision came out now and I don’t have to worry about this for another 18 months at least.”
Former US President Barack Obama’s administration granted Syrians temporary protected status in 2012, the year after the war in Syria began, and extended it through the end of next month.
The Obama administration redesignated Syria’s protected status several times so that waves of Syrians who had arrived in later years of the conflict could qualify.
There is no end in sight to the conflict in Syria. A peace conference in Russia on Tuesday ended with a call for democratic elections, but key opposition demands were ignored after squabbles and heckling of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergej Lavrov.
The Trump administration has shown a deep skepticism toward the protected status program, announcing its end for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan since Trump took office last year. Some of those nationalities were granted the protections more than a decade ago and the administration argued that their crises had since been resolved.
Refugee advocates criticized the Trump administration’s decision not to redesignate Syria’s status, saying it ignored the fact that Syria’s conflict continues to produce new refugees.
“The Trump administration’s decision means that many Syrians who are already here in the US will not be able to apply for TPS status,” Oxfam America senior humanitarian policy advisor Lia Lindsey said.
Some groups that favor immigration restrictions opposed an 18-month extension for Syrians, saying six months would be more appropriate.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese