A threat to Liberian immigrants
THERE IS an important issue that readers of SocialistWorker.org should know about.
Many Liberian refugees came to the U.S. as a result of a brutal civil war which erupted in Liberia in 1989, and for nearly 20 years, the U.S. has been the place that they have come to call home. For many of their children (any born in the last 20 years), it is the only home they know, and they are citizens here. Liberians have received education, gotten degrees, hold jobs throughout their communities and have established homes.
Now, after nearly two decades, the "temporary" refugee status for many Liberians will expire on March 31, 2009. This means that some 3,600 people would be forced to leave. With their families, it would mean many thousands of lives affected.
Liberia has come out of the war, yet it is still in a fragile state, struggling to pull itself together. These refugees fled to this country so that they would be able to live, and not be massacred or be a victim of consistent brutality. Presently, they have overcome the transitional obstacles presented by the new culture here in America and have been able to attain dreams.
It is not right to forcibly remove people who have already experienced a great deal of misfortune and who cannot even count on sustainable accommodation where they will be placed.
A letter to President Obama is circulating among the Liberian community and others, requesting a deferred enforced deployment (DED) of 18 months, so it may be ensured that no one is forcibly removed from the United States, and thrown into an infrastructure that cannot absorb a mass influx of people.
Liberians, who are productive members of the community in the U.S., have been forced to get DED status over and over, just in order to stay in their homes--they need a permanent solution as well. The struggle of "temporary" Liberian immigrants is one which has received little-to-no media coverage, yet it is very important and pressing.
Let's not send a message that because they are not part of a certain society, the world does not care about their particular lives.
Frances Taormina, New York City
