Thread: White House Extends Status of Liberians in US

White House Extends Status of Liberians in US

Friday, March 19, 2010
By Staff, Associated Press

Washington (AP) - President Barack Obama is allowing thousands of Liberians living in the United States to remain in the country for an additional year and a half.

A presidential memorandum issued Friday applies to Liberians who fled the country amid years of civil war and who are living in the United States under "deferred enforced departure status."

Their stay was to have expired on March 31, but Obama is directing the Department of Homeland Security to extend it by 18 months.

Large enclaves of Liberians live in states including Rhode Island, New York, Minnesota and the Carolinas.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, is praising the extension and says Liberians have become part of the "fabric of communities across the United States."

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/63085

is there still a civil war going on in Liberia?
has the situation in Liberia become stable enough for these people to go back home, or does by granting these people the right to stay now mean they never have to go home?