In Week Of Action, Advocates To Call On Biden Administration To Protect African Migrants By Designating TPS For African Countries

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. advocates working with and hailing from African countries are announcing a week of action for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and other forms of protection for African immigrants. Given the dangerous conditions in particularly vulnerable African countries, advocates and diaspora call to attention the need to designate TPS for Mali, Mauritania, the DRC, Nigeria, Sudan and all African countries meeting the statutory grounds for relief. Proponents are calling for humanitarian protection and deportation relief from the administration during a number of advocacy activities during the week of May 22.

As advocates making the case for TPS have stated in their letters to the administration, in the exercise of leadership Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden administration must prioritize equity in the consideration of TPS instead of racial bias.

Congressional Briefing. In a closed press event on May 23rd, advocates will brief Congressional Black Caucus members and staff on the conditions on the ground in several African countries and the need for congressional action in support of migrants from those countries.

Digital Day of Action. Advocates will hold a digital day of action on May 23 with stories and messages underscoring the urgency of TPS for African countries. Follow the hashtag #Protection4All and #ImmigrationisaBlackIssue and accounts including @AfricansUS and @wearecusp for more.

Community Roundtable. On May 25 at African Communities Together’s Washington, D.C. office at 1:30pm ET, advocates and leaders will hold a roundtable sharing information with community members and amplify the calls for TPS. This event will lend itself to listen to testimonies and perspectives from impacted leaders, community members, and advocates alike. The address for the event is 700 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 7th Floor, Washington, DC.

Over the past year, advocates have successfully secured TPS for Black-majority countries including Cameroon, Somalia, Haiti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan. These designations have spared thousands of people from some of the most unspeakable conflicts, humanitarian crises, and climate change-fueled devastation. Even so, we note the measurably disproportionate effort required from advocates and affected communities from Black majority and African countries to receive these necessary protections.

While some African immigrants are protected, too many face intolerable levels of danger. It is crucial for the Biden administration to designate all countries with conditions that make return untenable, including (but not limited to) Mauritania, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and Sudan.

With the increasing divisiveness and scapegoating of immigrants—especially those from African countries—by extreme political actors, and with the Biden administration all but prohibiting asylum, it is of utmost importance that the administration live up to the values it proclaims to have and use the full breadth of its executive power to provide essential humanitarian protections in the form of TPS.