U.S. extends temporary status to Somali immigrants

By Morgan Lee
Friday, November 5, 2010 at 1:24 p.m.

Hundreds of refugees and immigrants from the war-torn nation of Somalia will be allowed to extend their temporary residency in the U.S. through September 2012

The 18-month extension of temporary protected status by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services affects an estimated 300 Somali nationals who have been in the U.S. continuously since September 2001.

Somalis in the San Diego area may well be among the qualifiers, although there is no way for the public to know, according to an immigration services spokesperson and an advocate for the local Somali community.

Most qualifiers have had asylum requests rejected for one reason or another, explained Abdi Mohamoud, executive director of the San Diego aid group Horn of Africa. He estimates the San Diego area is home to about 4,000 foreign-born Somalis.

Temporary protected status is extended to immigrants who cannot safely return home because of an armed conflict, natural disaster or some other temporary situation.

An extension in the wake of last year’s earthquake in Haiti covered at least 100,000 immigrants living in the U.S. and another 30,000 who had been ordered deported.

Somalia, home to radical Islamic militias such as al-Shabaab, has not had a functioning government since 1991.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... mmigrants/