MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — United States Senator Tina Smith tells WCCO there has been a major breakthrough that will provide permanent status to thousands of Liberians in Minnesota and across the United States.
The Defense Authorization Act — which would keep those Liberians here — passed Thursday in the U.S. House. The U.S. Senate is expected to do the same on Monday, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it.
READ MORE: Daunte Wright Shooting: Demonstrators And Police Clash For 4th Night In Brooklyn CenterLast March, just days before a deportation deadline for Liberians with deferred enforcement departure status, or DED, they were given a one-year extension that allowed them to stay in the country. That deadline is set to expire in early 2020.
READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Have Any Other Home’: Thousands Of Minnesota Liberians Fear Deportation
READ MORE: 'These Kids Are Going To Be Traumatized': Residents At Epicenter Of Daunte Wright Protests Feel PowerlessSmith says the bill provides a path to citizenship in five years.
“This is really good news,” Smith said. ‘We have been working really hard to get to this point.”
MORE NEWS: Daunte Wright Shooting: Fmr. Officer Kim Potter Released From Jail Hours After Arrest For Manslaughter ChargesMany Liberian Minnesotans were granted DED status in 1999 in response to the Liberian Civil War.