Compliments of DHS, More "Temporary" Residents Have Their Visits Extended

Not that more proof is needed but here’s another example of the immigration truism that nothing is more permanent than a "temporary" resident. Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Sudan and the new Republic of South Sudan for 18 months each, effective November 3 and valid through May 2, 2013.

As part of the same announcement, DHS automatically also extended the validity of the Sudanese’s employment authorization documents (EADs) for an additional six months.

During the past year, DHS and the State Department reviewed the conditions in Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan, a nation created on July 9, 2011. Secretary Napolitano determined that because of the ongoing conflicts, the Sudanese would be at risk if sent home. The Sudanese have been officially “temporarily” in the United States since October 7, 2004, the date of the first TPS. Unofficially, who knows? Many could have been here much longer living as illegal aliens.

Among other countries that have benefited from TPS are Somalia, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Bosnia-Hervegovina, Kozovo, Rwanda, Lebanon and Kuwait. Some have gone home but many more likely have remained.

Here’s a paragraph from the USCIS website page that explains all the aspects of TPS:

"Although having TPS, by itself, does not lead to permanent resident status (a green card), a TPS beneficiary may immigrate permanently under another provision of law if qualified."

This is commonly referred to as "change of status," one of the most insidious of the immigration loopholes. Here’s the sequence of events: change of status, green card and finally citizenship which leads to another wave of legal immigration through chain migration.  In the end, more people compete for fewer jobs and add to our already over-populated nation.

While TPS is considered a humanitarian action, its critics wonder why the refugees could not be resettled in a country closer to their homeland where the religion, customs and language are similar to their own.