An interfaith coalition consisting of dozens of faith-based organizations is again urging the Biden administration to enact temporary protections for African migrants facing imminent harm if they’re deported back to their home countries.
“These demands are not new,” the Interfaith Immigration Coalition said. “Consistently following the lead of Black immigrant groups, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition has been a steadfast voice in the call for justice for Black migrants and asylum seekers since the earliest days of the Biden administration.”
That includes a call on Inauguration Day to designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The coalition renewed this ask for Cameroonians, as well other migrants from Ethiopia and South Sudan, on Black Immigrant Advocacy Day of Action last week.
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. director of advocacy Lisa Parisio said in a statement that a working group delivered policy recommendations at the very start of the Biden administration that included “an immediate designation of TPS for Cameroon.” But Parisio said that a year later, “the situation remains dire, and the administration has yet to respond.”
“TPS is a readily available tool the administration has at its disposal right now to provide life-saving protection to Cameroonians in the U.S.,” she said, noting “life-threatening” conditions there. “Cameroonians in the U.S. are trapped in detention centers and at risk of deportation, and some have been deported back to Cameroon, subjected to the violence they first fled.”
A human rights report just this month found Cameroonian asylum-seekers have valid claims for relief, yet were deported back to danger by the previous administration.
The report noted that while the Biden administration canceled a Feb. 2021 deportation flight, Cameroonians were deported in Oct. 2021, even though conditions there have not improved. “TPS is clearly warranted under the law and by basic morality,” Parisio continued. “The delay on TPS for Cameroon is deadly and it must end now.”
Coalition members also “demand the Biden administration act on its commitment to combat anti-Black racism in the U.S. immigration system,” supporting a recent call from Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Cori Bush, and 100 Democratic members of congress to address anti-Black abuses within the immigration system.
“The indignities and injustices that Black migrants have faced at the hands of ICE and CBP in the past year reveal only the tip of the iceberg of how anti-Black racism is embedded in U.S. immigration policy,” said Interfaith Immigration Coalition co-chair Peniel Ibe, also noting the Title 42 policy in particular continues to block the U.S. and international rights of Haitian asylum-seekers. The Biden administration has now had this deeply flawed, debunked policy in place longer than the prior administration had it in place.
“The Biden administration must wake up to this reality and acknowledge their role in continuing this inhumane status quo,” Ibe continued. “They must enact meaningful changes that correct these egregious human rights violations and affirm the dignity of Black immigrant lives.”
“It is long past time for the Biden administration to protect Cameroonians in the United States who live in fear of deportation,” said Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service president Krish O’Mara Vignarajah. “Extending protections to our Cameroonian friends and neighbors is a moral imperative. We call on Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas to use his authority to designate Cameroon for TPS.”
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