Biden administration extends temporary protections for Syrians

Jan 29, 2021

The Biden administration has renewed the temporary protected status of thousands of Syrians, ensuring they can stay in the United States through at least September 2022. 

David Pekoske, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced Friday an 18-month extension and redesignation of Syrians’ temporary protected status. 

The designation allows foreign nationals whose home countries are affected by natural disaster or war to stay in the United States until their country is safe for return. Temporary protected status can only be granted for up to 18 months, but an administration can extend the protections if dangerous conditions persist. 

A year after the civil war broke out in Syria, the Obama administration granted the status to Syrians in 2012 after determining that “extraordinary and temporary conditions” in their home country prevented their safe return. Under the new Department of Homeland Security order, more than 6,700 Syrians will retain their temporary protected status through September 2022 and an additional 1,800 who entered after August 2016 can apply for the special immigration protection. 

In a statement, the department said conditions in the war-torn country still are keeping Syrians living in the United States from safely returning. 

“The Syrian civil war continues to demonstrate deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of chemical weapons and irregular warfare tactics, and use of child soldiers. The war has also caused sustained need for humanitarian assistance, an increase in refugees and displaced people, food insecurity, limited access to water and medical care, and large-scale destruction of Syria’s infrastructure,” the statement read. 

A Russian-backed government air and ground offensive pummeled the northwestern province of Idlib last year, killing thousands and forcing up to 1 million people to flee their homes. A cease-fire for the region brokered by Turkey and Russia is largely holding. 

In addition to the threat posed by the fighting, Syrians who return to government-held areas risk detention in Syria’s notorious prisons, where rights groups have documented the torture and killing of thousands of detainees. 

The extension of temporary protected status is the latest immigration move from the Biden administration to impact Syrians. Biden on his first day in office overturned President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries. Biden has also pledged to drastically increase the number of refugees permitted in the United States this year.