Page 16 • Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019
St. Louis Park
sailor.mnsun.com
Rep. Dean Phillips, facing away from the camera, hugs Imam Mohammed Dukuly, who is a boardmem-
ber with the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota. The rotunda in the Capitol building was full of people Feb. 22.
One of the many signs supporters brought to the Feb. 22 rally for Liberian DED. Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks in support of Liberians at a rally at the Capitol Feb. 22.
(SUN POST STAFF PHOTOS BY KEVIN MILLER)
Liberians rally at Capitol as DED deadline looms
U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips,
Keith Ellison offer support
By KEVIN MILLER
[email protected]
As the deadline for congressional
or presidential action on Deferred En-
forced Departure for Liberians creeps
ever closer, Liberians, their supporters
and elected offi cials rallied at the State
Capitol Feb. 22, calling for either a presi-
dential extension of DED or legislative
action to protect those who are impacted.
DED is a legal immigration status
granted to Liberian nationals who were
seeking refuge from the Liberian civil in
the early 1990s.
Since 1991, Liberians with either Tem-
porary Protected Status or Deferred En-
forced Departure status have been able
to legally reside and work in the United
States. Minnesota has the largest popu-
lation of Liberians in the United States,
with a signifi cant portion of those resi-
dents having settled in Brooklyn Park
and Brooklyn Center.
That could all change March 31, when,
barring an act of Congress or a presiden-
tial extension, DED will expire.
DED, which is afforded at presidential
discretion, was extended by President
Donald Trump for one year in March
2017. He called for a “wind-down” pe-
riod for the status before it terminates.
Upon termination, residents here with
DED status will no longer be legally
protected or documented.
Across the board, speakers at the rally
were unifi ed in calls for either an exten-
sion for DED status or for congress to
approve a path to citizenship for Libe-
rians.
“Liberians are law abiding and work
very hard. They pay their taxes,” said
Abraham Bah, chair of the Organization
of Liberians in Minnesota.
“We pray that our government will do
the right and the moral thing,” said Ar-
thur Bia, co-chair of the Organization of
Liberians in Minnesota.
To this point, Sens. Tina Smith and
Amy Klobuchar, along with Reps. An-
gie Craig, Dean Phillips, Betty McCol-
lum and Ilhan Omar, have signed onto
a letter asking Trump to extend DED
protection before it expires.
‘No one person is going to solve this
problem,” said Minnesota Attorney
General Keith Ellison during the rally,
which was hosted in the Capitol’s rotun-
da. “This problem is solved by all of us
… this is a very serious thing when the
United States president says our broth-
ers and sisters have to leave the home-
land. This is not right. It’s immoral, it’s
improper, it’s unjust, and we should not
stand for it.”
Ellison said that Liberia and the Unit-
ed States have a special connection go-
ing back in the history of both nations.
“Members of the Liberian community
plan an indispensable role in health care
in Minnesota,” he said.
“I am doing everything humanly pos-
sible every day right now to achieve the
result that we all want,” Phillips said.
“And that means telling the president of
the United States directly how important
this is. Not just to me, not just to all of
you, but to Minnesota,” he said.
Phillips said that he spoke with Speak-
er of the House Nancy Pelosi, telling her
that discussion related to immigration
reform related to DACA or TPS needs
to include DED as well.
“We are going to do this, and we’re go-
ing to do this because it’s the right thing
to do. It’s the humane thing to do,” he
said.
Phillips added that he has cosponsored
a bill called the Liberian Refugee Fairness
Act, calling it the most important bill he
has signed since getting to Congress.
“This is the very most important thing
to me over the coming weeks and months,
and I will be at the very front of the line …
to make sure this happens. And no mat-
ter what happens, I will be in the front
of that line too with every single one of
you,” he said.
Bill cosigners with Philips are Omar,
Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island),
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington),
Rep. James McGovern (D-Massachu-
setts). Rep. James Langevin (D-Rhode
Island) and Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-Dis-
trict of Columbia). It is intended to pro-
vide Liberians on DED with legal status
and a path to citizenship.
Klobuchar and Smith are among seven
cosponsors of a bill in the Senate with the
same name that would allow eligible Li-
berians to apply for permanent residency
and provide them with a path to citizen-
ship.
Imam Mohammed Dukuly, a board-
member with the Organization of Libe-
rians in Minnesota, asked Liberians here
to not get discouraged, and that the com-
munity needs to work together if they
successfully fi nd a path to citizenship or
a DED extension.